James was not just exaggerating to scare the others. Computer effects were computer effects, after all. No matter how real it looked, it was just realistic. After all, it was not real.
But Hong Dali was different. The Mechanical Holy Garment he created existed physically. It was not something that could be compared to computer effects. With the Mechanical Holy Garment in his hands, computer effects were worthless to him.
When viewers looked at it, they would subconsciously think that “This is fake. No matter how good it looks, it’s still fake.” But for Hong Dali’s video, viewers will think that “See, Mechanical Holy Garment, I’ve seen this before. It’s cool, really cool. It’s real!”
Real and fake, in terms of movie experience, it was incomparable.
James pounded on the table with a “bang-bang” sound. A middle-aged man in his fifties frowned. He took a deep puff on his cigarette and slowly said, “James, it’s clear that this is not the time to lose your temper. We need to think of countermeasures. How can we defeat our opponent in the box office.”
Another person held his forehead with his hand and nodded. “That’s right James. Caiwei Entertainment has announced the screening date, 15th of September. It’s less than a month away. Losing your temper won’t help. We need to think of countermeasures.”
“It’s not that easy!” James took a deep breath. “With the popularity of the Mechanical Holy Garment, the box office will definitely soar. Although I’m confident our ‘Magic Age’ is perfect, computer effects have no advantage over real props. There’s too little time. One month, only one month. Even if I invest more money, it won’t have much impact. There’s not enough time.”
Time, what James was most worried was that there was not enough time.
If he had enough time, he could invest another fifty million to make the scenes more impactful. At least it would look better. But the problem was the lack of time. It was too late to re-shoot. It was even too late to insert more computer effects.
After all, one month was not too short yet not long enough.
Speaking up to this point, the others could feel it, too. This was a difficult matter. But however difficult it was, they had to do something!
This battle was not just a simple box office battle. If it was just the box office, it wouldn’t matter if the numbers differed by a little. This time, it was a battle of honor! Hollywood had always been the absolute leader in the movie industry. “The Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Pugilistic World” had already miserably defeated them previously. If they failed again, Hollywood’s reputation…
While everyone was wallowing in sorrow, the oldest man amidst them smiled and said, “Often, the key to winning a battle is more than just going head-on-head.” This old man was the oldest among the eight people. Of course, he was also the most cunning and scheming of all.
“Dear Mr. Orlando, you have an idea?” Hearing what old Orlando said, James’ eyes lit up. Generally, when Orlando spoke up, it meant that this old man had a wicked idea.
“It should work, more or less.” Orlando laughed. His voice was hoarse. He sounded like a demon from the abyss, especially on this poorly lit Round Table Conference.
“Can you tell us?” James asked anxiously. “It concerns Hollywood’s honor. It’s not just about me.”
“Of course, my dear James.” Orlando coughed and slowly said, “What determines the box office is not just the quality of the movie. Many times, underhand tricks and external factors as well.”
“Underhand tricks. You mean…” Hearing that, James suddenly had a thought. He mumbled. “Don’t tell me, you want the actors to do something?”
“Hehe, I remember that some of the actors working with Hong Dali are from Merika, right?” Orlando beamed and said, “Who are they? I’m old and my memory fails me…”
“Yes!” James naturally identified them. “There are three people. Oscar-winner Renas, Oscar for Best Supporting Actor Award Sarufar, and Oscar for Best Actor Crocker Dahl. They’re all heavyweight figures.”
In fact, this was one of the reasons why James was so depressed—these three people had gone to work for Hong Dali. That was also why Hollywood was uncertain about the box office of “Holy Warriors of the Goddess.”
“Hehe. There are no impenetrable walls in the world.” Old Orlando laughed. “Choose one of them and dig out some scandals. That should be easy. Once we have conclusive evidence, it should be quite enough for Hong Dali to deal with.”
“Good idea!” James’ eyes sparkled and he said excitedly, “Once they are involved in any scandals, their popularity will inevitably decrease. If they say anything inappropriate then… I will go make the arrangements immediately!”
“Oh, also,” Old Orlando added. “The Mechanical Man that Hong Dali came up with, I’m sure our military force would have a countermeasure. I know someone from there. Maybe I could arrange for you to meet up with Chief Itra.”
“Meet with the Defense Minister?” James was shocked. “But we’re just businessmen dealing with movies. We might have some say in the movie industry, but meeting the Defense Minister, we…”
“No, no, no. My dear, we cannot be arrogant, but neither should we be complacent.” Old Orlando smiled. “Although movies and military defense don’t seem to match up with each other, we should not forget how Mechanical Man was made. If we get support from the military, perhaps we can take a leaf out of Hong Dali’s book—make a movie about an Iron Warrior. It need not be a lengthy movie, we can even record the video from an amateur perspective. Maybe use the military to promote it a bit, perhaps then Mechanical Man would lose a little attention. If they benefit from it, it would naturally benefit our box office, too.”
“You mean…” James’ eyes shone brightly. “I understand! I’ll go make arrangements now!”
…
Merika, Hexagon Building.
Salon paced around the room anxiously, snarling as he turned. “Mechanical Man! Hong Dali actually made a Mechanical Man! Did you see his weapon? It’s simply too powerful… If Hong Dali continues with his ways, our country’s position will be threatened! That can’t be, no way!”
As he raged, Defense Minister Itra, who was sitting across from him, was also frowning.
Hong Dali had made a huge move this time. Hollywood was concerned about the box office of the movie, and he and Salon were concerned that Mechanical Man would have an impact on the military system in the future.
What did the Mechanical Man imply? To put it simply, it meant that the ordinary army might be largely withdrawn from Heavenly State’s military. Heavenly State’s army would be dominated by soldiers armed with this mechanical armor.
It was no exaggeration to say that one Mechanical Man could replace one thousand ordinary soldiers.
What concept was that? If a war broke out, these Mechanical Men would completely defeat the Merika Army combat forces. Ground troops, tanks, and armored vehicles, which were designed to fight against the Mechanical Men, would be ineffective.
“We can only bear with it for now.” Itra thought for a while and spread his hands helplessly. “At the moment, we can only wait for Hong Dali to go out to sea. He’s too safe in Heavenly State. There’s nothing we can do. Even if we send special agents, it’s hopeless. Currently, the Angel of Misfortune’s curses seem ineffective against Hong Dali.”
“The issue is not whether to wait or not. It’s whether our plan will work!” Salon’s saliva was all over the table. “He’s got the Mechanical Man’s armor now. You’ve seen how powerful that thing is. Do you think that just a few pirates would work? The weapons on the armor could take down an entire tank!”
Both Salon and Itra had seen the video on the Mechanical Man. They were fully aware of the power of the weapon.
“My dear Lord Salon, I think we should not underestimate Hong Dali. But we can’t overestimate him as well.” Itra was as cool as a cucumber. “Think about it, the weapon is so powerful. Surely the source of that power is a very important problem. If there were insufficient bombs or energy, he can’t possibly use the weapon without limit.”
“What do you mean?” Salon looked at Itra. “That we secretly support the pirates?”
“Yes.” Itra nodded. “If it were just normal pirates, they wouldn’t be Hong Dali’s match. We could secretly support their arms, or even… directly send soldiers? We will detonate the nuclear power engine. Hehe. By then, even if he has the ability of God, we will send him directly up to see God, then.”
“Secretly support their arms, directly send soldiers to detonate the nuclear power engine…” Salon touched his chin. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it’d work. He laughed. “Yes, this is a good idea!”
Speaking up to this point, the secretary suddenly knocked and walked in. “Ministers, the diplomatic ambassador of Jaban State requests for a meet-up. It seems to be regarding Hong Dali’s Mechanical Man.”
