Chapter 459: The Latent Dragon

Regarding the imminent 'crisis,' Li Mochen pretended to be completely unaware, continuing to follow his predetermined pace.

He had to deal with the accumulated affairs at Sunrise Company after his departure, while fully taking over the Benedict family's industries and the 'Atlantic Intercontinental Bank.' He had hired enough financial talent to help him control the company.

Some of these people were introduced by Consigli and Michelle, others came from headhunting firms—he wasn't sure about their reliability, but their resumes were impressive, indicating strong competence.

Li Mochen's requirements for the 'Atlantic Intercontinental Bank' were currently very low: just establish a sufficiently robust regulatory system and ensure no losses.

Beyond that, Li Mochen also had to inspect the numerous security personnel recruited by the company and the core of the armored regiment initially integrated by Michael Wood.

So in the first few days back in Atlanta, Li Mochen was extremely busy. Even though he had truly mastered the ability to split his attention, he still found it overwhelming.

In addition, Li Mochen had to constantly monitor Jennifer Wiltonstein's situation, commissioning various intelligence organizations with hefty rewards to find her whereabouts or clues.

The situation grew increasingly perplexing; although Jennifer was not dead, no one knew where she was. No one had stepped forward to reveal any intention of luring him into the dark world.

It wasn't until the sixth day back in Atlanta that Li Mochen finally handled all the various affairs at hand.

At this time, the national competition was drawing nearer, and soon he would face Felton Williams and Glenn Adams, two fighting geniuses hailed by the media as 'monsters.'

Yet the Void Night King still showed no signs of making a move, even when Li Mochen deliberately weakened his defensive forces several times. This made him wonder if the King of Anomalies had seen through his scheme or was arranging countermeasures beyond his perception.

Fortunately, he still had the 'Zhou Tian Divine Mechanism Mysterious Pivot Lock Star Secret Art' to divine fortune and misfortune. According to it, his luck in the coming month was quite good.

Speaking of 'fortune and misfortune,' one must mention the estate he purchased and renamed 'Sword.'

Actually, Li Mochen's chosen name was 'Ask Sword Estate,' but Americans couldn't grasp its meaning or pronounce the characters accurately. Translating it as 'Ask Sword' seemed awkward, so he simply used the word 'Sword' as the estate's external name, though he still preferred 'Ask Sword.'

By now, Li Mochen had spent a fortune renovating the 1,200-acre estate.

Not only had he built a military fortress underground, but he also put great effort into the estate's feng shui.

The buildings inside the estate were designed by Li Mochen himself, while the magical energy array was arranged by two grand array masters he hired at great expense, according to his requirements.

Then Li Mochen made further modifications, personally burying the feng shui artifacts he had collected or crafted into the estate's magical energy array, using the holy relic 'Ten Thousand Year Seal' as the feng shui spiritual pivot.

The entire feng shui array was laid out in the 'Latent Dragon Configuration.'

It wasn't that Li Mochen couldn't stimulate his dragon aura; doing so would indeed bring him good fortune and success in the next year or two.

But in this world, there were no longer any monarchs. Once Li Mochen's dragon aura was unleashed without being nourished by the land and its people, it would inevitably fall into the 'Regretful Dragon' state.

So it was better to keep it hidden and dormant, building a solid foundation.

After completing this feng shui array, Li Mochen's 'Divine Sky Spiritual Fortune Purple Gold Tower' turned entirely bright yellow, its luster almost rivaling its peak state in the Primordial Dome Realm.

According to Li Mochen's experience, this treasure had greatly increased its effectiveness. The effect of a strand of merit energy was now twice what it had been.

The 'Divine Sky Spiritual Fortune Purple Gold Tower' would also gain the true ability to suppress fortune, keeping Li Mochen's luck consistently above a certain level.

However, although the surface buildings of 'Ask Sword Estate' were initially completed, Li Mochen and Angela had not yet moved in.

This was because the underground part was still under construction. After returning to Atlanta, Li Mochen not only expanded the scale of the underground fortress but also built six nine-story buildings at the corners of the estate.

These were essentially fortress castles that looked like ordinary buildings, equipped with powerful fortress cannons and machine guns, and had ordered missiles and air defense systems from Light Magic Industries. They also further strengthened and expanded the estate's magical energy array.

The purpose was to create a safer haven, ensuring the safety of the company and its top management in Atlanta.

It could ensure that, with 1,000 magical professionals stationed there, it could resist two regular armored divisions. Even against demigods or even divine-level attacks, it could hold out for a while.

Li Mochen considered that if he encountered enemies like the Benedict family in the future, the defense strength of Sunrise Storage Center would be insufficient. He had to prepare in advance and build a new base.

However, the total cost of these fortifications, plus the purchase of the estate, exceeded 1.2 billion gold shields, most of which couldn't be covered by his black money.

Fortunately, he now had the Atlantic Intercontinental Bank, and Sunrise Media had settled his first royalty payment, making his cash flow more abundant.

It must be mentioned that the pure royalties for 'War God of Fury' were only 52 million gold shields—an already astonishing figure, as the first volume sold 40 million copies in its first month.

Subsequent sales of the first volume and the next three volumes had yet to be settled. According to Sunrise Media's statistics, the second volume had the highest sales, reaching 90 million copies, sparking a huge craze across America.

However, the main income from 'War God of Fury' came from portrait licensing and advertising partnerships. The male and female protagonists of this comic were now far more popular than Li Mochen himself, boasting numerous fans.

The agency Li Mochen had signed with had earned him nearly 620 million gold shields in these two months.

Sunrise Media was not far behind, reaping a huge sum in a few months. Coupled with taking over part of the textbook printing business and advertising revenue from the 24-hour news channel, Sunrise Media's financial reports looked excellent. The wealthy Nanette Drew also began new acquisition plans. With Li Mochen's approval, she prepared to borrow from the Atlantic Intercontinental Bank to launch two consecutive acquisitions involving 1 billion gold shields each.

If ultimately successful, Sunrise Media's scale and influence would more than double, extending its reach into the northern states.