Chapter 221: Casualties

……

The second phone call Li Mochen received was from Biston Comics. The voice on the other end was a middle-aged man.

“—Yes, our editorial team has reviewed your comic submission and believes we can discuss it with you.”

“Although the art style is strange, the plot simple and childish, and the characters overly idealized, among various other shortcomings, we cannot completely deny the commercial value of your comic.”

“Yes, we intend to publish this comic for you. However, there are some requirements. I hope you can revise the manuscript according to our editorial team’s suggestions. As for promotion, we hope that after the comic is published, Mr. Wieldenstone, you will cooperate with the publicity.”

“The extent of revisions? I can’t determine that; it depends on the specific situation. After signing the contract, our editorial team will provide you with a story outline. To be honest, we would prefer your protagonist to join the Biston family.”

“There are also requirements regarding copyright. We need exclusive rights to all formats of this comic, including film and animation adaptation rights, as well as rights to re-create and adapt the comic characters.”

“Royalties for the first edition? We will give you six percent. According to industry practice, newcomers typically get five percent. The terms we offer you are extremely sincere. Alternatively, after completing the revisions, you could consider selling the rights outright to us. Currently, the price for comic magazines is 1,500 gold shields per color page and 500 gold shields per black-and-white page. We can offer you this buyout price for the first edition.”

“No! No! These terms are not too harsh, Mr. Wieldenstone. Publishing this comic for you also involves considerable risk for us.”

Li Mochen’s face was full of black lines, and he hung up the phone directly.

He had long since realized that this Biston Comics, like the other comic publishers that had contacted him over the past two days, had not actually taken a liking to his artwork—they were only interested in his current fame. As for the so-called revisions, they would most likely require him to redraw the comic according to a plot they specified, using his current popularity for promotion. And if he refused, he would have to pay the comic company a penalty for breach of contract.

This situation was no different from that of the vast majority of so-called comic artists in America. Basically, whatever plot the comic company’s editorial team devised, those artists had to draw. But in Li Mochen’s view, they were merely illustrators, not artists.

This put Li Mochen in a very bad mood. He realized that his plan to make money through comics might be about to fail. This was the last comic company to contact him, and if even these specialized comic publishers couldn’t accept his submission, the acceptance rate of other publishers was easy to imagine.

It wasn’t until twenty minutes later, when Sampson finally called, that he perked up a little.

“Sorry, boss. It took us a little time to get back from there.”

“I figured as much. Ran into trouble in the dark world?”

“A detachment of the Ghost War Song Hunting Group.”

Sampson explained the reason: “But we were well prepared, and our push toward Ghost City was very resolute. They didn’t dare make a move.”

This time was different from the robbery of Craig Community Bank. For one, they had enough people—over seventy heavily armed magic-energy professionals in the team, including six at the outlaw level. For another, they weren’t attractive enough; the armored vehicles weren’t carrying hundreds of millions in gold shields and gold bricks.

It was true that the Ghost War Song Hunting Group had a close cooperative relationship with Antonio, but whether they would be willing to suffer hundreds of casualties for a partner was another matter.

“How did it go? How many casualties does our hunting group have?”

Li Mochen’s first concern was the casualties. He referred to it as a hunting group to prevent their call from being wiretapped.

“I’m sorry. Three died, seven were injured, two of whom may not be able to work for you anymore.”

Sampson’s tone was very calm. After all, he was a seasoned commander with a military background and dozens of mission experiences, long accustomed to life and death.

“We were too hasty when hunting magical creatures. That was my fault, boss.”

Li Mochen sighed. “Be more careful next time. In situations like that, I’d rather you return empty-handed. Later, contact their families for me. I will give them compensation according to the most generous standards in the industry.”

But beyond that, he had no further remarks.

When it came to being accustomed to life and death, Li Mochen surpassed Sampson. In the Primordial Dome, tens of thousands of major and minor demons had died by his hand, he had personally orchestrated the eradication of over twenty sects, and he had commanded more than seventeen large-scale battles involving over a hundred thousand people.

For someone like him, even just outwardly showing an attitude of valuing his subordinates’ lives was already quite rare.

“Thank you. Few bosses are as kind and generous as you.”

Sampson sighed with relief and gratitude, then spoke of what Li Mochen was most concerned about: “This time, our proceeds from hunting magical creatures total 31 million gold shields. In addition, there is a large amount of extra income, with a market value of about 42 million. I brought them out. Major Adams thought we should burn them on the spot, but I believed we couldn’t act without authorization. After some argument, he followed my advice.”

“Major Adams was right. Please destroy those extra gains as soon as possible.”

Li Mochen raised an eyebrow, knowing that the ‘extra gains’ Sampson mentioned were most likely drugs.

“Sampson, I appreciate your caution, but if a similar situation arises in the future, destroy them immediately. We will never touch those things. I want you and Major Adams to personally supervise the destruction. Make sure none of our people take any, understand? As for the gold shields—after setting aside the compensation, take 30% as bonuses for everyone. The specific amounts and ratios are for you and Major Adams to negotiate and distribute according to merit. Deposit the rest into the Swiss bank account I gave you as war funds for the coming period.”

“30%? Thank you for your generosity!”

At this point, Sampson’s voice even carried a hint of gratitude.

Three minutes later, Sampson Brut, who had hung up the phone in a restaurant in the city center, smiled at Thompson Adams sitting across from him.

“Adams, the employer I introduced to you—he didn’t disappoint you, did he? You heard it all? All drugs destroyed, the most generous compensation in the industry, and a 30% bonus. According to our agreement, this time my bonus is all yours.”

“Wow, then we can order. Tell the waiter we want the finest steak. Today, I’m treating.”

Thompson Adams, a major with chiseled features and a cold demeanor, raised his chin, his face now full of smiles. “This is indeed a generous employer. But Sampson, when can I meet our boss? I’m really curious about him. I think the boss must be different from that fighting star on TV, right?”