Chapter 149: News

At ten o'clock in the evening, the 39th floor of the Unicorn Apartment building was still brightly lit.

"No! A design fee of 0.3% is far too little; it doesn't match our client's—no, the employer's contribution."

"The problem is that Mr. Wiltonstein didn't participate in the design; we only used his name."

"That's the point! Your product is now effectively endorsed by my employer, yet you only want to pay him 0.3% as a design fee."

"We demand at least five percent, and that's five percent of total sales, not net profit. That's the price for an NMOSA exclusive product."

"Hey! Ms. Pearson, even for exclusive products, the royalty is usually only two percent. A five percent share is superstar treatment."

"You can't be so unreasonable. We can compensate Mr. Wiltonstein according to the royalty for exclusive products. But the problem is, Mr. Wiltonstein is still just a high school student, isn't he? Currently, the highest royalty for top industry designers is only 0.5%. If we exceed that figure, I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain to the NHSAA Competition Committee. If Mr. Wiltonstein leaves this stage, he may find it hard to make the first-round draft list for NMOSA."

"So I say your company has no sincerity at all. I've studied the NHSAA Competition Committee's regulations; this point can be circumvented—"

The heated discussion in Li Mochen's apartment living room was between the lawyer team from Pearson-Darby-Specter Law Firm, led by Jessica Pearson and Harvey Specter, and the legal and marketing departments of Nathan Sports Group.

The former was merely a law firm, but given Li Mochen's promised five percent share, the two senior lawyers rolled up their sleeves and vigorously bargained with Nathan Sports Group.

Ms. Pearson had obtained an agent's license in her youth, so representing Li Mochen in contract negotiations was perfectly legitimate.

At this moment, Li Mochen was in the second-floor reception room watching the news.

"Breaking news from this station: ten minutes ago, Arcadis Sporting Goods held an emergency press conference, announcing the termination of its sponsorship contract with James Lanster. They will pay James Lanster a penalty of up to 500,000 gold shields. Subsequently, the Arcadis regional spokesperson stated that they question the results of today's seventh round of the Atlanta High School MOS individual competition, suspecting that James Lanster may have colluded with betting companies. Additionally, they claim to have solid evidence proving that James Lanster violated his promise to Arcadis by privately taking banned substances before the match, which likely caused his crushing defeat to Andrew Lee Wiltonstein today—"

"My God, that guy Lanster is completely finished this time."

William Jacques's face turned pale as he watched the TV: "Serves him right; that's the price of taking drugs."

"Can't say it serves him right. I suspect the drug was forced on him by Arcadis."

Li Mochen recalled what James Lanster had said to him in the ring.

Although the guy's character was questionable, it seemed he still wanted to win the high school MOS individual championship in a more 'pure' way.

"Is that so?"

William Jacques was half-convinced: "If that's the case, then Arcadis is utterly despicable. That's irresponsible and disgusting!"

"Do you think the same thing would end differently at Nathan?"

Li Mochen decided to help his friend grow up: "I bet the number of athletes using banned drugs isn't limited to the Arcadis camp. This is the adult world, William. Speaking of which, you should have seen plenty of this in the Wanderer community, right?"

"How to put it?"

Carl Holton felt he had to say something: "He just lost too badly; Arcadis had no choice but to abandon him. I admit, if this happened at Nathan Group, we would do the same. Otherwise, it would significantly hurt product sales. But the key is that he went too far in the past. If he hadn't repeatedly humiliated our Nathan-sponsored athletes a year ago with unsportsmanlike conduct, we wouldn't have sought revenge. In fact, our industry is still quite humane. We promote sportsmanship, hope everyone follows the rules and competes fairly, and we try to be as tolerant as possible of our sponsored athletes' shortcomings."

"I see—so it's about maintaining the glamorous side of NMOSA (National Mixed Martial Arts and Swordsmanship Association), which benefits everyone, right?"

William was indeed not stupid; he grasped the essence of the issue as soon as Carl spoke.

"I really was too naive. Your white world is just as disgusting."

Carl shrugged: "Actually, nearly seventy percent of the athletes in this league are black now."

William ignored him and pressed the remote to change the channel. This time it was a commentary program on a Western TV station about a fighting event. The host and several commentators were chatting animatedly.

"—So, Mr. Bryan, do you think there was foul play in this match?"

"No! I'm just suspicious, since I have no evidence. I don't want to receive a lawyer's letter from Nathan Sports Group after the show airs."

"In fact, I personally hold the same view about today's Atlanta High School MOS individual match. It's too bizarre. For a month before the match, all TV stations and newspapers kept reporting on that 'Lucky Prince' and James Lanster. Lanster's odds were set ridiculously high, which was meant to lure people into betting! Undoubtedly, several betting companies were behind those media outlets, manipulating the match."

"The fight itself was also very strange. I roughly figured out that Andrew Lee Wiltonstein used a technique called 'borrowing force to strike.' But the problem is, that's usually only possible when a high-level magic professional faces a lower-level one."

"Did you know? Based on calculations from the video footage, Andrew Lee Wiltonstein's sword speed was between 170 and 180 kilometers per hour. Can you imagine? James, whose sword speed reached 600 kilometers per hour, was disarmed and forced to kneel by such slow speed."

"Yes, it's strange. Logically, James should have had no trouble reacting, unless he deliberately let himself be thrown off balance."

"I think the problem might be with James Lanster himself. Arcadis's recent statement supports my guess. If he took some banned potions with strong side effects, it could indeed reduce a fighter's control over his body."

"Bullshit!"

William turned off the TV with a livid face: "Are they all blind? I don't believe they lack the judgment of Coach Rikard."

Those veteran commentators in the show were all retired professional fighters, one of whom had once reached level 18 as an Outlaw.

Li Mochen glanced at Carl: "Is it appropriate for you to do this? Won't it affect your product sales?"