Chapter 215: Monopolizing Asia

“Go out? Spend decades in prison? By then I’ll be old enough to die anyway. Why bother seeking trouble?” Mo Huaien’s expression now showed a sense of indifference, which earned Xiao Ran a surge of respect—someone who could face death head-on must surely be brave. Mo Huaien waved at them and struggled to get up, groping for his gun on the ground. “Let’s go!”
“By the way, Xiao Ran, do you love her?” Mo Huaien felt an irresistible urge to ask this question, only to realize immediately how foolish it was.
Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with tenderness, as if the world contained only them two. They both smiled softly. Xiao Ran replied with just one sentence before walking out with Lin Qingxia. “What do you think?”
Watching the Xiao couple leave, Mo Huaien sighed heavily. He truly envied Xiao Ran. But now, apart from death, he could accept nothing else. Xiao Ran didn’t seem particularly tall, yet he and Lin Qingxia complemented each other so well.
In a world where the victor rules and the loser dies, there’s no place for the defeated. Mo Huaien had not only failed in Xiao Ran’s domain but also lost everything. Perhaps the only thing left was his pride, and it was this pride that made him choose to face death.
Finally, he found his gun. He pressed his head against the barrel and lay there, breathing heavily. It was unclear whether he regretted anything or not… In any case, he knew Xiao Ran had won and, by extension, strengthened the Power of the Shadow, becoming the undisputed number one in Asia.
He thought perhaps he wasn’t that miserable after all. At least in his own eyes, he had lost in a romantic and chivalrous manner. Though he had lost his sanity after the defeat, he had ultimately received dignity and romance from Xiao Ran. With that thought, he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger with all his strength…
Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia stepped out of the house, and soon several police officers rushed over to escort them away. If not for Sun Yang and Monkey, who alerted the police that Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia were peacefully negotiating with Mo Huaien, the police would have rushed in long ago.
Xiao Ran was taken to an ambulance. He held Lin Qingxia’s soft hand and smiled gently. “I never thought you’d be so strong and calm today. It’s great to see such a change in you.”
Lin Qingxia also smiled, as if she had survived a disaster. Ever since becoming Mrs. Xiao, she knew she had to take on some responsibilities. For her, she had to learn to be strong in order to help Xiao Ran, right?
“It’s all over now. I’m so tired. Can you stay with me?” Xiao Ran’s face showed signs of exhaustion. He had exerted great mental effort to achieve his current success. Once relaxed, the accumulated fatigue would burst forth.
Lin Qingxia smiled, her delicate hand tightly gripping Xiao Ran’s, gently patting it. “Isn’t it only natural for a wife to accompany her husband?”

In their eyes, they had long ignored the frantic photographing by countless reporters; all they saw was the other party. Even if they knew, they wouldn’t care about the reporters. Some feelings don’t need to be feared of being discovered, don’t they?
Anyway, Xiao Ran won again. Strategically, he still made no mistakes. But in terms of actual execution, he nearly killed Lin Qingxia. Fortunately, it was only a close call, and this made Xiao Ran protect Lin Qingxia extremely well from then on, to prevent her from becoming a victim in future struggles.
This victory wasn’t easy; it required great effort. Not to mention the strategic aspects, just the attacks on the Guoli directors’ own companies had already given Tang Yan and Wei Dongling, who were involved in the plan, a huge headache. In any case, Xiao Ran won, Shadow won too, and they even secured the top position in Asian cinema, despite everything having happened so narrowly.
Yet, this war wasn’t over yet. Xiao Ran still harbored resentment toward the British Hong Kong government. This time, he wouldn’t sit idly by. Although he still couldn’t figure out why the British Hong Kong government was playing such tricks on him, he took action anyway.
However, while putting pressure on the British Hong Kong government, he tested their reaction. Seeing no response from them, he acted as if it had nothing to do with them. The next day, when the details of the kidnapping case were published in the newspapers, the Xin Bao was the first to report on three film companies suspected of money laundering.
Over the next three days, more than a dozen film companies registered by the underworld were successively exposed for money laundering activities. Suddenly, all the newspapers in Hong Kong were shocked and amplified the story of the kidnapping case even further.
On the fourth day, various figures in the film industry expressed their opinions, stating that they would never allow the underworld to tarnish the clean film industry. By the fifth day, the Film and Television Department head gathered the four big bosses and glanced at their indifferent expressions: “Four bosses, higher-ups don’t want this situation to continue. You should step in and help calm things down!”
Xiao Ran chuckled but said nothing, merely taking a sip of water. Pan Disheng looked at the department head coldly and said, “Department head, you should know we’re not opposed to other companies entering the industry. But we firmly resist gangs. Now that your policy of lifting registration restrictions has been implemented, we can’t help you!”
The Film and Television Department head could only smile bitterly. It was truly not easy to hold this position. The Hong Kong Directors Association and Screenwriters Association had also declared that if the problem wasn’t resolved within three days, they would go on strike, which would lead to another major scandal.
“Four bosses, please don’t make things harder for me. You know I can’t make decisions!” The department head wished he could roar to vent his frustration. All he could do in this position was handle minor matters; it was Xiao Ran who decided everything.
Xiao Ran stared at the department head calmly and said, “Since you know you can’t make decisions, why come talk to us and waste our time? Report this to the Governor or the Financial Secretary and let them talk to us!”

Xiao Ran’s tone was extremely stern. The department head could only force a wry smile; his superiors merely wanted to test him through him, leaving him in a difficult position. It was then that Xiao Ran smiled faintly and said, “Department head, it’s not that we don’t want to give you face. At this point, if the Hong Kong-British government doesn’t give us an explanation, it simply won’t do! But don’t worry—I won’t put you in a tough spot!”

Lord David Wilson was anxiously staring at the head of the film department and Financial SecretaryMcLeavy -> McLeavy sitting not far away. Wilson was the current Governor of Hong Kong, whileMcLeavy -> McLeavy was the Financial Secretary. Judging by his character, Governor Wilson was quite decent—he was the one who proposed the plan for Lantau Airport, and he was far better than his successor, Patten.

Patten had gone too far back then—not only did he repeatedly raise civil servants’ salaries, but he also drove up property prices, dragging Hong Kong’s economy down due to the lingering effects of that scoundrel’s actions. Even more ridiculous was the fact that when he left, he tried to take away even cutting boards, while computers and other items were smashed by the Brits, who refused to leave them behind for the mainland.

This showed just how desperate the Brits were to make money, and Governor Wilson couldn’t avoid it. He followed his superiors’ orders, trying to create chaos in various industries to cripple Hong Kong’s economy. However, the UK still had some hope for Hong Kong at the time and didn’t dare go too far.

Before reaching out to the film industry, Governor Wilson had considered Xiao Ran’s overwhelming influence. Not to mention the rampant gangs, even Xiao Ran’s massive influence alone was beyond his handling. He even believed Xiao Ran was the only person in Hong Kong’s history capable of mobilizing nearly 20,000 film industry workers in a single day. Yet he still went ahead with it—sometimes, one has to do things even when they know it’s wrong.

The Hong Kong-British government didn’t doubt Xiao Ran’s connections to the mainland, as his background was clear and untainted. But they certainly weren’t happy about his monopoly over the film industry, nor did they want to leave such a powerful propaganda tool in the hands of the mainland.

Governor Wilson hadn’t expected Xiao Ran’s reaction to come so late. Now he understood a bit, but not completely. Still, he could see Xiao Ran’s intention clearly: to pressure the Hong Kong-British government into paying for what he had done.

What could he do? In such a situation, if he dared to say no to Xiao Ran, he was sure that within three days, the entire Southeast Asian media—and even a British newspaper owned by Shadow—would report on it. By then, Xiao Ran wouldn’t just be putting pressure on him—he would be showing him outright disdain.

Of course, he seemed to have forgotten that Xiao Ran was also the godfather of all Hong Kong’s gangs. Xiao Ran had considered having the gangs help him exert more pressure on Governor Wilson, but he abandoned the idea because it could easily ruin the economy.

“McLeavy -> McLeavy, why don’t you go in my place? You know I have a very important meeting tomorrow!” After thinking for a moment, Governor Wilson quickly found a scapegoat. He was different from previous governors, who were all diplomats by background, while he was only familiar with Hong Kong affairs.

McGale trembled all over, his face twisted in uncertainty—uncertain whether to laugh or cry. The matter was simple, yet not so simple after all. Xiao Ran’s intention was clearly to force the British Hong Kong government to back down on this issue. Governor Wei certainly didn’t want to lose face, and the Financial Secretary happened to be the head of the Film Department—so if anyone had to handle it, it should be him.

The next day, in the Financial Secretary’s office, McGale forced a smile as he looked at Xiao Ran. The other three hadn’t shown up; after all, it was Xiao Ran who had started this whole thing, so their presence or absence didn’t matter—both sides knew that.

“Secretary McGale, did you invite me here just so I could enjoy the tea?” Xiao Ran lazily propped his feet up, waiting patiently for the foreigner to speak. “Though the tea here is nice, I still prefer the one in my office!”

“Mr. Xiao, it’s this way—the Governor happens to have an important meeting today and can’t meet with you in person. He asked me to greet you and negotiate this entire matter on his behalf!” McGale quickly put aside his usual arrogant demeanor and forced a smile. “You know the government has always been supportive of the film industry, so…”

Xiao Ran smiled lightly. If he could be deceived so easily, there would be no need to go to such lengths. “Support isn’t just superficial—Secretary McGale must be well aware of that. This time, our film industry just wants to understand why the government is lifting registration restrictions. Don’t you realize this is like inviting wolves into the house?”

“Look at Mo Huaien—what a dangerous man!” Xiao Ran inwardly muttered, then continued, “The money laundering cases from a few days ago probably prove that point too. What puzzles me the most is that the Hong Kong government has always claimed not to interfere in the economy. Then why didn’t they allow Shadow to raise actors’ salaries back then?”

McGale was suddenly at a loss for words. The government’s non-interference in the economy was one of the reasons behind Hong Kong’s economic growth. But a few months ago, they had indeed intervened—no wonder Xiao Ran was determined to force them to back down. “That was a mistake made by the higher-ups back then. We’re considering correcting it. Industry prices should be determined by the market, right?”

Xiao Ran stared at McGale with a smile but said nothing, leaving McGale uneasy. “Mr. Xiao, I hope you and the film industry can understand our difficulties and help calm down this turmoil!”

“Me?” Xiao Ran laughed easily. He was truly laughing now, not pretending. He admired the Brits—trying to persuade him without putting in any effort at all. Impressive. “I can’t. I’m just an insignificant person who can’t do anything!”

Hit by these words, McGale cursed inwardly. Then, with a sly smile, he said, “How about we each make a compromise? What do you think?”

“A compromise? Why should I compromise?” Xiao Ran stared at McGale strangely. If not for everyone knowing each other’s backgrounds, it might have seemed genuine. “I don’t like bargaining when negotiating with others.”

McGale froze for a moment, thinking it was time to reveal his trump card. “Mr. Xiao, why don’t you state your conditions—no, your demands? We’ll do our best to consider them. After all, you’re someone of status!”

Xiao Ran laughed inwardly countless times. Brits might not be inferior to Chinese when it came to pride. On the surface, he remained seated with a smile and said, “Since someone made a mistake, they must take responsibility. I think the government should show some courage. What do you think? In terms of movies, the government must protect the interests of the film industry by introducing relevant regulations. Of course, I’m open to allowing registration!”

Xiao Ran actually didn’t need to oppose opening registration. He was simply enraged that the Hong Kong-British government had struck at him secretly, which is why he exerted pressure. Opening registration was only a matter of time anyway—since the underworld was firmly under his control, there was no need to worry about it. Moreover, excessive restrictions were certainly not good for the market.

Xiao Ran’s focus wasn’t on registration restrictions. He just wanted to teach the Hong Kong-British government a lesson, showing them that Phantom wasn’t someone to be manipulated at will. Now that his goal seemed achieved, there was no need to insist further.

Two days later, the Hong Kong government agreed to amend another law, making adjustments to address gang infiltration into the film industry. Half a month later, the head of the Bureau of Film Affairs resigned voluntarily, thus giving Xiao Ran some form of satisfaction.

“Mechanical Warrior” was released with unstoppable momentum through the combined efforts of Hong Kong’s three major theaters. Its opening-day box office revenue exceeded 4.5 million, reaching 10 million within three days. Over its 40-day run, its total local box office revenue reached 51 million, making it the third-highest-grossing film in Hong Kong’s history. To date, the top four highest-grossing films in Hong Kong’s history are all Phantom’s works, proving that no one could stop the myth of Phantom.

In Asia, this film broke the record set by “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold,” with box office revenues exceeding 1 billion. In Europe, it fell short of “Ghost,” but it surpassed it in North America. Ultimately, its global box office revenue reached 2.6 billion, making it the second-highest-grossing Asian film, second only to “Ghost.”

Meanwhile, “Bloody Streets,” released to counter Taiwan, fared poorly, with box office revenues of only around 20 million. But that wasn’t a problem. Thanks to Phantom’s staggered release schedule, its overseas box office performance was quite good. Phantom successfully secured contracts and films from Hong Kong, and everyone who owed them anything returned. Some actors and filmmakers who had betrayed Phantom were also forgiven and rejoined Phantom’s ranks.

It was only then that the journalists understood what Xiao Ran had meant that day. Astonished by his far-sightedness, they reported the incident in the newspapers. Shaw Brothers didn’t dare cross any lines, fearing Phantom’s fierce retaliation or similar schemes from Xiao Ran.

No one in Asia dared challenge Phantom Group anymore. After going through several unknown, brutal tests and challenges, Phantom had grown stronger with each one. This time, it finally completed the most important part of Xiao Ran’s strategic plan: dominating Asian cinema.

The largest European distribution company and South Korea’s CJ Group also fell under Phantom’s control due to national interests and Hong Kong’s situation, allowing Phantom to gain absolute control. For Phantom, this meant not only controlling the local distribution network in South Korea but also the largest distribution network in Europe. This would enable Phantom’s future films to continuously dominate the European market—a crucial advantage.

On the other hand, after Phantom acquired Guoli, it retained the technical patents while spinning off and selling everything else once performance improved. Two years later, when Guoli was sold off, it generated over 10 billion Hong Kong dollars in revenue, while Phantom’s acquisition cost was only 4 billion—proving it had made a huge profit from this deal. In the same year, Phantom secured the rights to Ninja Turtles and partnered with Warner, eventually earning 100 million dollars in North America, just like Cathay-Keris had done in history. Meanwhile, Shuxiang made rapid progress in developing comics, using many of the ideas provided by Xiao Ran to create comics in an attempt to compete with Japan in the comic industry.

In terms of animation, Phantom’s special effects team and animation team were officially separated in the second half of the year, after acquiring some top talents from Pixar. An animation production company named Fantasy was established, along with another company called Extreme Special Effects. After separating, Fantasy recruited a large number of skilled workers in China and took on several production projects from ATV, starting to produce long-form animations and feature films, with advertising also falling within its scope of business. Extreme Special Effects no longer worked exclusively for Phantom; after gaining fame with “Mechanical Warriors,” it became the go-to company for special effects production in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. However, special effects production is not a simple task—it requires time and patience, which is why it didn’t take on many projects afterward.

Of course, for Xiao Ran, it was all just the beginning. Once he had rested enough and Phantom had regrouped, it would be time to challenge Hollywood. But these are strategies for the future; let’s return to those passionate days. Remember, Xiao Ran’s goal was solely movies—he never aimed to become the world’s richest man or thought about how much money he wanted. For someone who had experienced life and death once before, all of this was just a numerical game. Yet he knew that only by playing this numerical game brilliantly and successfully could he focus on making movies. That’s why he invested so much effort into it. Now that things had reached this stage, he didn’t need to worry too much about it—Wei Dongling could handle it for him. Movies—that’s what he truly wanted, right?

In the second half of the year, Phantom took out loans from BOC to carefully select acquisition targets worldwide, including newspapers, magazines, and television stations, aiming to build the foundation of a multinational media group. It didn’t make many acquisitions in the film industry but instead focused on the media sector. Before long, it was early September, and Xiao Ran and Lin Qingxia returned from their vacation. After returning, Xiao Ran kept thinking about how to expand into the mainland market, which was crucial—without it, he surely couldn’t compete with Hollywood. It was time to start filming the sequels to “Spy Change” and “God of Gamblers.” After much consideration, he still couldn’t think of anyone suitable to direct these two films. Himself? Come on. Given the popularity of these films, box office success was guaranteed, and this was an opportunity to promote new talent—Xiao Ran didn’t necessarily have to direct them personally.

Phantom now has at least five signature films, and “The Three Heroes of the East” has finally been accepted by the market after Xiao Ran subtly guided it toward the audience. Fortunately, the dark fantasy style isn’t too intense, resulting in decent box office performance. “The Legend of the Swordsman” also succeeded upon release. It’s no exaggeration to say that today’s Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets are seeing a flourishing variety of genres. The trend-following phenomenon has been well controlled thanks to Xiao Ran’s coordination within the Film Association, with everything developing in a positive direction. However, how long can this last in overseas markets? Xiao Ran doesn’t know. In some parts of Southeast Asia, Hong Kong films have overtaken Hollywood movies, occupying a significant market share. The problem is that no one knows when cultural protection policies will be introduced in these regions. Once such policies are implemented, Hong Kong films will suffer. Developing the domestic market is particularly important. In fact, quite a number of Phantom films have been released in the mainland—about thirteen or fourteen just in the first half of the year, all with the best box office results in the country. But to make a major push into the mainland, it’s hard to say when that will happen. At the beginning of this year, Miao Qiaowei and Qi Meizhen got married, while Brother B finally became a father, and Zhang Manyu broke up with Er Dongsheng. The robbery incident that Xiao Ran had feared for Liu Jialing also didn’t happen, showing that history doesn’t always go as he expects. Now, Xiao Ran’s workload has lightened significantly as most of the responsibilities have been handed over to Wei Dongling. He now mainly focuses on the company’s major strategies and direction, while his regular task is to continue making his own films. What kind of films? Xiao Ran thinks it might be like “Gunfire” for Eason Chan—his own films are those he imagines, not purely commercial ones. However, he clearly hasn’t yet figured out what his own films should look like. With no other choice, he continues to make commercial films. For the racing series, Xiao Ran only wrote the first two parts; the rest were left to the writing team. In a sense, racing films are acceptable in both the East and West. In fact, there are common elements—whether it’s romance or action movies, there’s always something shared. The key is not to force too much Eastern culture into Western films, as that usually leads to a poor outcome in the West. Hong Kong’s racing legend Chen Jiafeng is a very flamboyant guy; even when meeting Xiao Ran, he was equally flamboyant, with his eyebrows raised high. Yet he indeed has reason to be proud—legend has it he’s Hong Kong’s top racer, faster even than professional drivers. Besides Chen Jiafeng, another retired racer, Guo Dong, joined Phantom. Interestingly, Guo Dong kept glaring at Chen Jiafeng whenever they met. Xiao Ran was curious, “Did you know each other before?” “Knew…,” Guo Dong hesitated for a long time, his frustration evident: “He beat me before! But it was because he forced me to race! And there aren’t any decent racetracks here in Hong Kong at all.”

“No matter what method you use, you lost, right?” Chen Jiafeng raised his eyebrows disdainfully. “Guo Dong, don’t bring up race tracks as an excuse—if you lose, you have to accept it!”
“Enough, stop!” Xiao Ran stood up and watched the two arguing, unable to help but smile secretly. He suddenly realized something and quickly asked, “You said there are no decent race tracks in Hong Kong—is that true?”
Guo Dong nodded. Hong Kong was such a small place—where could there be suitable race tracks? Usually, they raced in places like Clear Water Bay, where the tracks weren’t very challenging, with no particularly difficult turns. It was simply a race to see who was faster.
That’s true! Xiao Ran felt frustrated. Did this mean the script needed to be changed? As he pondered this, Chen Jiafeng continued to sneer, “Who said there are no suitable race tracks in Hong Kong? It’s probably just that your skills aren’t good enough!”