These familiar faces were well known from the news and the internet, not from the entertainment industry, but from Wall Street and the tech world—tycoons of finance and technology.
For example, Bill Gates was present at the charity event, chatting with others.
There were also the CEOs of Amazon, Yahoo, and other major websites, as well as the Vice President of Google's advertising business and the head of YouTube—Susan Wojcicki, a partner of Norton's Eye.
Earlier this year, after Google co-founder Larry Page replaced Eric Schmidt as CEO, Susan Wojcicki was promoted to oversee the advertising division.
The advertising partnership for Lucy 2 had been negotiated between Norton's Eye and this female executive.
So when Susan Wojcicki spotted Ethan, she immediately walked over and greeted him.
"Hi, congratulations, Ethan."
"Thank you, Susan." Ethan hugged Susan Wojcicki briefly and clinked glasses with her. "And congratulations to you as well."
Susan Wojcicki smiled and said, "I look forward to working together more in the future. To be honest, my child keeps nagging me to watch Lucy 3, and I really enjoyed the film too."
"Thank you for your support." Ethan exchanged a few pleasantries with her, thinking he could finally get a moment to relax.
Unexpectedly, as Bill Gates walked past Ethan, he suddenly spoke up.
"Ethan?"
Ethan quickly stood up. "Hello, Mr. Gates."
"Hello, Ethan." Bill Gates shook his hand politely and said, "I heard your new film is another big success."
"Yes, it did slightly better at the box office than the last one," Ethan nodded.
"I heard it's a franchise now, right?" Bill Gates seemed quite interested in the Lucy series.
"Yes, that's right."
"Have you ever considered turning it into a video game?" As the head of Microsoft, which had a major gaming division, Bill Gates brought this up naturally. Ethan immediately raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I'd be interested, Mr. Gates."
Turning Lucy into a video game would greatly expand the franchise's influence.
However, Bill Gates wasn't going to discuss the details personally. The two of them simply confirmed their mutual interest, leaving further negotiations to Microsoft's gaming division.
That evening, at the charity auction, Ethan purchased several Tang Dynasty porcelain pieces and stored them securely in his most heavily guarded villa.
Jessica also expanded her network at the charity gala, particularly among the wives of wealthy tycoons. While these women may not hold direct power, they have the ability to influence some of the most powerful men in North America.
After the charity event, Microsoft quickly sent representatives to Norton's Eye to discuss licensing the Lucy IP for video game adaptation.
Among the visitors was the renowned gaming studio conglomerate, ZeniMax Media.
ZeniMax was a Microsoft partner, owning several game studios responsible for The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Doom franchises, as well as the classic stealth game Dishonored.
Microsoft wanted to acquire the Lucy IP for game development, so they brought in ZeniMax to handle the project.
Since both sides had little disagreement over licensing, the negotiations quickly moved on to revenue-sharing terms.
However, Microsoft had deep pockets and wasn't interested in haggling over small details, so they skipped the most time-consuming part of the discussion entirely.
The talks quickly shifted to the specifics of the IP collaboration.
Besides Microsoft, other companies also approached Norton's Eye, including Mattel, the company behind Barbie dolls. They wanted to launch a Barbie series based on Lucy.
Hasbro also expressed interest in producing cyberpunk-themed toys for children inspired by Lucy.
These negotiations took up a lot of Ethan's time, but the results were lucrative. Excluding box office revenue, just from licensing deals, Norton's Eye was set to earn around $60 million.
Once these matters were settled, Ethan returned to his main focus—his new film projects.
This year, Norton's Eye had two major films in production, directed by Greta and James Wan. Both had already entered the filming stage. To ensure quality, Ethan had to oversee both productions as a producer, frequently moving between sets.
Fortunately, both directors were highly capable.
Although Greta had never directed a blockbuster before, she had spent years learning from Ethan and had accumulated a wealth of experience. She handled large-scale productions smoothly.
As a result, within three to four months, both films wrapped up principal photography and moved into post-production.
While Vincenzo eagerly awaited the conclusion of Lucy's storyline in the films, the Valiant comic series had been releasing individual issues featuring various heroes.
Vincenzo bought every single one and read them at home.
Through these comics, he discovered numerous details about the Lucy universe, particularly about a key Black character—Victor.
Victor was depicted as a former prosecutor who had resigned voluntarily.
His resignation stemmed from frustration with the corruption within the justice system and the government's oppression of the people.
A man with a strong sense of justice, he became disillusioned and hopeless when he realized he couldn't change the system from within. With no way forward, he left the prosecutor's office.
However, in private, he continued to work as a private investigator and lawyer, helping ordinary people fight for their rights.
One day, while representing a group of disease-infected citizens, Victor took on a particularly unusual case.
The plaintiffs were suing the largest corporation in the city—Myconstry Arms Corporation.
The corporation had conducted experiments near their homes without their consent.
After the experiments concluded, the soil was found to contain highly radioactive elements, which slowly eroded their bodies, causing tissue necrosis.
This was an injustice the affected citizens could not accept, and Victor agreed to help them, launching an investigation into Myconstry Arms Corporation's secretive experiments.
However, as he dug deeper, trouble ensued—the corporation caught wind of his probe and sent robotic hounds to hunt him down.
Varus had no choice but to bury himself in radioactive soil to escape.
When he emerged, he found his body mangled beyond recognition.
He screamed in horror and ran like a wild beast. He thought his body would completely dissolve due to necrosis, but unexpectedly, just as his flesh melted down to his skeleton, a new transformation occurred.
Varus awakened a superpower—the ability to infinitely regenerate his flesh.
Though his ability seemed grotesque, it was undeniably powerful.[ T/N:Deadpool is the you? ]
With unlimited regeneration, he quickly created multiple clones and successfully uncovered the truth behind Myconstry Amrs Corporation's experiments.
It turned out that through geological surveys, Myconstry Amrs Corporation had discovered a mysterious patch of land near a densely populated area.
This piece of land was square, measuring five meters by five meters. It didn't seem remarkable or different from ordinary land, yet it contained multiple strange elements—all of which were absent from the periodic table.
Normally, such elements would gradually spread or migrate over time, but this land's elements defied that principle. Myconstry Amrs Corporation had searched extensively but found no signs of element migration, as if some unknown force was restraining them within this land.
To investigate, Myconstry Amrs Corporation conducted experiments, attempting to manually extract and transfer the elements to see what would happen.
However, once removed, these elements emitted intense radiation and soon disintegrated. The corporation had to go to great lengths to preserve them.
Eventually, they found a solution—using CPH4-infused containers could keep these elements stable.
After discovering the truth, Victor quickly filed a lawsuit against Myconstry Amrs Corporation. But the corporation's influence ran deep, with strong ties to the political world, leaving them unshaken.
Instead, they hired lawyers to counter-sue the public, accusing them of slander and extortion.
Victor was forced to gather more evidence. He directed his clones to infiltrate Myconstry Amrs Corporation and steal classified information.
Unfortunately, the corporation's security was stronger than he had anticipated. Through his clones, they traced his real body and launched a full-scale assault, wiping out most of his duplicates and capturing him alive.
As a result, when the court hearing took place, no lawyer was available to defend the public. The judge ruled Myconstry Amrs Corporation not guilty and found the citizens guilty of defamation, ordering them to pay a hefty compensation for damaging the corporation's reputation.
After the ruling, Victor became the target of public outrage.
Everyone believed he had been bribed by Myconstry Amrs Corporation and deliberately avoided the trial. Their suspicions were further confirmed when he reappeared as a well-dressed elite, seemingly part of the upper class.
Thus, the public's fury shifted from Myconstry Amrs Corporation to Varus.
It was under these circumstances that Lucy and her team arrived in this era.
She had been following clues related to the mysterious land. Upon investigating Victor, she deliberately visited his mansion to meet the infamous elite lawyer in person.
But she discovered that this Victor was not a real person—or rather, he wasn't the original body.
Lucy and her team dug deeper and uncovered the shocking truth—Myconstry Amrs Corporation had somehow gained control over Victor's clones. In other words, the Victor seen by the public was nothing more than a mindless puppet.
To find the real Victor, Lucy led her team to Myconstry Amrs Corporation and successfully located him in the deepest level of their laboratory.
However, his condition was horrifying.
He had been dissected into countless pieces, each used for different experiments. The only part of him still intact was his head.
Every time his body regenerated, it was immediately sliced apart again.
Even though it was just a comic, Vincenzo felt his skin crawl at the sight.
Lucy's team was equally disturbed. They swiftly rescued Victor, destroyed the laboratory, and freed his clones.
But after years of captivity and inhumane experiments, Victor's mind had collapsed into chaos. No matter how they tried, they couldn't wake him.
With no other choice, Lucy traveled back in time again.
At this moment, an important concept was introduced—the World Line Principle.
If Lucy changed the past, it would create a ripple effect, branching into a new timeline.
In other words, by saving Victor, they had created two parallel world lines—one where he was rescued and one where he wasn't.
The Victor they saved was no longer the same as before; he belonged to an entirely new timeline.
What this meant was unclear to Vincenzo, but he knew Lucy's team rarely altered world lines unless absolutely necessary.
The reason they saved Victor was simple—in the future, he was destined for complete brain death.
If they didn't act now, it would be too late.
Lucy traveled back to the moment before Victor was captured and gave him a crystal.
This crystal, made from CPH4 and infused with Adonijah powers, had the ability to stabilize the mind.
Afterward, Lucy returned to Peel's side, while Victor regained consciousness in the present.
According to him, he had endured unspeakable torture for years. Fortunately, the item Lucy gave him had helped him stay sane, preventing a total breakdown.
Now that he was free, he was determined to make Myconstry Amrs Corporation pay.
Victor joined Lucy's team and led an assault on the corporation's headquarters, blowing up the entire building. He also captured the mastermind behind the experiments.
However, he didn't execute the man.
Instead, he chose to let the law deliver justice on behalf of the people.
Since he was no longer suited to stand in the public eye, Peel took his place, becoming a lawyer and exposing all of Myconstry Amrs Corporation's crimes.
The corporation collapsed overnight, and every criminal involved was brought to justice.
Meanwhile, Lucy's team returned to the land where Victor had buried himself years ago and located the mysterious patch of soil.
"So, what exactly is this?" Victor was puzzled. Despite all his research, he still couldn't understand why this land was so special.
Lucy explained, "This is an anchor—one of the points sealing the sky barrier… We need to destroy it, but not yet."
After reading the comic, Vincenzo finally understood—the ancient gods had once left Earth, covering it with a celestial barrier that cut them off from the true galaxy.
To break the seal, they needed to locate and destroy all the anchor points.
Now that Lucy's team had found the first one, calculating the locations of the remaining anchors would be much easier
"So when will the sequel to Lucy be released? I really want to see the third one." Vincenzo made a complaint on the forum, and then suddenly saw the promotion for Norton's Eye.
"Wow, the Reese and Cleopatra movie is finally coming out!"
.....
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