0046 The Most Profitable in the World (Please Support with Bookmarks and Monthly Votes)
A few people just talked casually. After all, this kind of thing is a matter of mutual consent; the ability of a desperate admirer to seek trouble is truly impressive. Who knows if he might switch to supporting someone else? What if it’s another Felix? Whenever Lu Deyang thought about these people, he wanted to form a research group to study what exactly was going on with them. For a star athlete, dating seemed as easy as playing a game, their social media photos could become artful photo collections, yet they insisted on not treating themselves like adults. Was this a problem of character?
On a day off, after breakfast, Lu Deyang was about to look for Mancini. Monica was staying on campus, and he was quite bored. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Xuanxi Kumagai squatting by the doorstep.
“Good morning, teacher!”
Lu Deyang: ...
“Kumagai, Kumagai-kun!” Lu Deyang stepped aside to let him in. “You always like to play the ‘Chengmen Lixue’ routine, but you should know me by now—I prefer practicality. Your Japanese style of apologizing without compensation doesn’t work on me.”
Squatting at Lu the King’s doorstep for no reason—where the hell did you come from, Demacia?
“Teacher, I’m not here to rush you on the manuscript today. I have good news to share.”
Kumagai entered and immediately brought the good news.
“Is that so? Wait a moment, I’ll prepare some drinks.”
Lu Deyang bent over and pulled out a pack of “Longjing” tea from the cabinet—he wasn’t sure when he had gotten it—and threw some into the teapot to boil water. It was left by his uncle; after opening it and tasting, he suspected it was fake and never touched it again.
More than ten minutes later, the two sat facing each other.
Xuanxi took a sip, gave a thumbs up, and said, “Fragrant and refreshing, crisp and mellow—truly a fine tea.”
“Then drink more of it,” Lu Deyang said.
After all that, this guy still didn’t get it.
“Teacher, here’s the thing: Nintendo thinks ‘Pocket Monsters’ is perfect for adaptation into a game to promote their newly launched GameBoy, so they want to discuss this.”
Tsk tsk.
The paycheck has arrived.
“But the manga isn’t serialized completely yet. Isn’t making a game now a bit premature?” Lu Deyang said.
At this moment, he was still relatively clear-headed.
---
Releasing the game first would somewhat limit his creative freedom, but the advantage was that game fans could quickly boost the anime and manga. Letting Nintendo produce the game first wasn’t impossible, but it had to come with extra payment.
Suddenly, Lu Deyang thought of Witcher’s mother.
If he charged too high now, Nintendo would likely create a new IP like “Digimon” or “Digital Monsters.” The Japanese couldn’t be trusted when it came to principles.
But if they tasted success first, this IP would become well-known and they wouldn’t want to let go, giving Lu the King bargaining power.
“Harry Potter” was also heavily promoted by Warner Bros. before Rowling made the big money.
This was the advantage.
Nintendo probably didn’t even realize how important this IP was.
“Kumagai, help me set up a meeting with them when you have time. I don’t really care about the costs; I just want more people to see my work and draw strength from it!”
Lu Deyang said.
Kumagai’s expression changed instantly.
He had previously thought Lu Deyang was a talented but lazy young man.
Now he saw a literary spirit in him.
He would have to reassess his attitude toward Teacher Lu.
You may not agree with someone’s ideals, but you must respect their persistence.
---
November arrived.
Sampdoria’s schedule was speeding up.
The Europa League quarterfinals would begin next year.
But at the end of the month, Sampdoria would compete for their first title of the season—the Italian Super Cup.
This competition, only in its second edition, was between the league champion and the Italian Cup winner. Strangely, it wasn’t held at the start of the season but in the middle.
This was quite unreasonable.
Some players were affected by injuries; competing for a championship at this time surely impacted the quality of the matches.
Adjustments were made later.
The first match in November was against Roma, who were currently stable and ranked fifth.
“Today’s opponent is known to you all—another away game, and a very tough one at that,” Boskov said.
Roma was famous for being a fortress at home.
Their players and fans had a bit of a rebellious streak, never backing down no matter how they played.
No team could easily conquer the Stadio Olimpico.
“I want to emphasize a few points: First, don’t concede goals carelessly. Second, take your chances when they come. Third, when you get the ball, pass it to Deyang whenever possible, understood?”
“Understood!!!”
---
Vialli nudged Lu Deyang’s arm and said, “If Roberto heard that, he’d be upset for days. He’s been on the team for so many years and never got this treatment.”
“Maybe it’s not about skill?” Lu Deyang joked.
That guy had a filthy mouth.
Vialli smiled and nodded.
“I’ve been thinking about digging a doomsday bunker,” Dossena said.
This immediately piqued everyone’s interest.
“Because of the Soviet nuclear leak?” Pali asked.
The Chernobyl disaster was wildly vilified in the West, but the Soviets had actually handled it quite responsibly.
“Yes,” Dossena said. “I feel like the Soviets and Americans might go to war. Nuclear war could break out any day. What would we do then?”
“Ask Deyang—his girlfriend is a college student,” Pali suddenly said.
Lu Deyang: ...
What, knowledge can be spread through X?
“My suggestion is to prepare more against the Americans. Maybe their labs will release some virus and then sell you the cure,” Lu Deyang said.
“That sounds like a movie plot,” Vialli complained.
“But in reality, there’s no hero to stop them,” Lu Deyang said.
“Those Jews will do anything for money,” Pali said.
The locker room immediately responded.
Jews were never well-liked in Italy, not only for religious reasons but also because their ancestors had lent money at high interest rates on this land.
Maybe some of them had borrowed from those ancestors.
Lu Deyang glanced at the system and chose to draw a card.
[Ding! Because your good friend Mancini had multiple affairs during his tenure coaching Inter Milan, and his marriage to Federica ended in divorce, you have drawn a player whose wife had multiple affairs: a single-match experience card for the 2000 European Championship semifinal, Italy vs. Netherlands—Francesco Totti.]
The Wolf King.
One of the most handsome men in the Apennines.
One of the most naturally gifted footballers in Italy’s history.
A man with both physique and skill, rugged style, fiery temper, but an exceptionally exquisite chip shot that toyed with countless goalkeepers.
What he didn’t know was that while he sweated profusely on the field every week, his wife was doing the same in her own way.
If only he had married someone else, life wouldn’t have been so bleak.