There was a little episode in the process of acquiring the rights to "Migration to Mars." When Cosmic Entertainment bought the IP, Pluto was still an unknown author. No one was willing to buy the copyrights to his novels, even when the publisher bundled his novels together at a low price. At that time, the person in charge of Cosmic Entertainment's film production department had a personal relationship with Pluto's editor, so they purchased the rights to this particular book out of goodwill. Two years ago, Pluto's new book, "Wormhole," won an international award, which brought his works into the spotlight. The copyright of "Wormhole" was bought by VisualBox, a streaming platform under Microworks Corporation. They engaged a foreign team overseas who took two whole years to produce a sci-fi film of exceptional quality. The film achieved tremendous success due to raving reviews, despite being released in an unpopular time slot. It eventually grossed over four billion dollars at th
"Migration to Mars" was one of Pluto's early works. Although it wasn't as famous as "Wormhole" and his writing style was more immature in that novel, its content was simpler to understand. The science fiction community regarded this particular novel as an entry into the rabbit hole as it did not contain an excessive amount of obscure knowledge, making it more palatable to the general audience. After assessment by professionals in the film industry, they estimated that "Migration to Mars" would become Pluto's most successful work, given that the level of production quality was similar to "Wormhole."Nonetheless, "Wormhole" had set the bar too high. VisualBox had financial backing from Microworks Corporation, so they could afford to hire a top-notch production crew from Tinseltown and put the most realistic visual effects into the film. Other production companies in Caldor couldn't compete on the same level. When Xavier was dreaming of making it big with "Migration to Mars," many
Xavier had justified his actions by saying that this was the only way for them to get the money. He dropped his bossy attitude and poured out his frustrations on Ian. When he spoke about his struggles, he even shed emotional tears. Ian's heart was instantly softened. After thinking it over, he contacted Ron on Xavier's behalf. When they were carrying out the kidnapping, Ian was constantly on edge. He warned Ron repeatedly, "Do not hurt the child." If they merely held Bethany captive, they still had a chance of getting off the hook lightly, but if she was harmed in any way, the consequences would be catastrophic. Ian's conscience wouldn't allow him to do something so cruel to a child. Ron agreed readily. Initially, he followed Ian's instructions and sent videos of Bethany regularly, confirming that she was alive and well. As time passed, Ron's patience grew thin as Kevan continued to delay paying the ransom. He had called Ian several times to complain in a rage.In one of t
Indeed, Ron was arrested by the police, but it had nothing to do with the kidnapping.He had a history of drug abuse for over ten years and was heavily dependent on drugs. When Ian sent him some money, he immediately spent it all on drugs. With the substantial amount of money he received, Ron could afford to get drugs that were of higher quality. Feeling proud, he invited a group of friends to have a party at the karaoke bar. Jack had been keeping an eye on Ron all along. At first, they didn't even take action when Ron purchased the drugs to avoid blowing their cover. However, thanks to Ron, the police managed to uncover a significant drug smuggling ring by tracking his suppliers. Now that a group of Ron's friends had gathered together to do drugs, the police couldn't turn a blind eye any longer. Jack decided to inform Kevan beforehand. Kevan had never paid much attention to Bethany's safety. Whenever Jack called to report the situation, Kevan would only listen passively without
Standing beside Kevan was a group of burly men with expressionless faces dressed in black suits. As one of them took a step toward Bethany, she burst into tears, wailing loudly. She grabbed onto the hem of Jack's uniform and hid behind him, using his body as a shield. Caught off guard, Jack was almost pulled off balance and he barely managed to stop himself from falling over by placing a hand on the ground. Jack looked up at Kevan helplessly. "Maybe you should personally bring her home." Upon hearing this, Kevan furrowed his brows in disgust. Just the thought of holding her hand in his made his stomach churn. He waved at Bethany and ordered in an impatient tone, "Come over here." When she heard his voice, Bethany stopped crying and cautiously peered over at Kevan from behind Jack. After making sure that Kevan was calling her, she gradually inched closer toward him with baby steps. As she reached out her hand toward Kevan, he turned away, leaving her outstretched hand hoveri
It was raining cats and dogs outside the window. The rain was accompanied by the rumbling sounds of thunder and occasional flashes of lightning. The news had reported that this torrential rain was a rare occurrence that would only happen once in a decade, causing severe flooding in many parts of the city and leaving people stranded in their cars. Gary had returned to the Winston Hotel yesterday to deal with some business matters and he would be back in the morning. Despite that, It was almost noon, but Lewis and Gary were nowhere to be seen. Larissa couldn't help but feel worried. However, her phone was completely destroyed in that accident. Lewis had set up call forwarding for her and settled the procedures of her resignation, but he did not get her a replacement phone or a new number. As a result, she had no way of contacting them at all. When Mrs. Griffin finished washing the mop in the bathroom, she walked past the balcony and peered down below. Shaking her head, she excl
By afternoon, the rain did not seem that it would stop any time soon. The gray clouds had hidden the sun. It was only 2 pm, but it was so dark that one would think that it was nighttime right now.Larissa woke up from her nap and felt around for the remote control Mrs. Griffin left for her near the edge of the bed, turning on the television with it. The TV screen flashed once before turning dark once more. Almost at the same time, the room lights went out as well.Mrs. Griffin was so shocked that she leaped up from the bedside chair. "The TV can't have been struck by lightning, right?" She was so startled that her eyes widened a great deal.Larissa was calmer than she was. "It must just be a regular power outage." Even though the timing was too coincidental.The room was completely dark. Mrs. Griffin felt for her own slippers before she got out of the chair."I'll ask a nurse."A few minutes later, she came back and said, "The nurse said that the lightning struck the electrical p
Thunder boomed loudly, precisely overlapping the sounds of Larissa's pounding heartbeat in her ears. Collecting herself, she looked at the puddle gathering around Kevan's feet and frowned subconsciously."It's raining so heavily out there …" The rest of her complaint died in her throat when Kevan suddenly interrupted her with a loud sneeze.Kevan awkwardly covered his nose. His gaze darted to and fro, likely out of embarrassment as he refused to lock eyes with Larissa. There was even a faint flush on his pale face.Pretending not to see his discomfort, Larissa got Mrs. Griffin to get him some tissues. Kevan swiftly turned around and wiped away any snot that had sprayed out accidentally."My apologies." His face was still red, but he was much more collected than before. Larissa did not find his prior actions to be rude though—on the contrary, the way he looked so disheveled now made him seem a little bit more human, which … well … was kind of cute."Hurry up and go shower!" Mrs. Gr