I can handle it.

From the purchase of the company in America to now, half a month had passed, and Li Dan Niu had finally completed his debut work.

Since he planned to establish an entertainment company and profit from film and music works in the cinematic world, the company needed a reputation. Without the means to hire big-name celebrities, it was much more cost-effective for Li Dan Niu to use a small investment to make a high-return film himself.

According to his plan, the movie had to go through a round of hype before seeking a distributor. That way, negotiations over price would not be so passive.

Reminded by Douglas, Li Dan Niu went online to check news about those two short videos, and what he saw startled him.

“Did any of you hire internet trolls?” Li Dan Niu couldn’t help but ask. It was simply a fact that, without such hired help, it was hard to create an online sensation like this.

“No…” Everyone shook their heads. Not only had they not considered hiring trolls, even if they wanted to, they had no idea how to go about it.

Helena asked, “It’s so hot online now—can we sell the movie?”

“Sell?” Li Dan Niu shook his head. If he tried to sell it, not to mention a hundred million dollars, even ten million dollars would make others think he was crazy.

“I don’t plan to sell it. I want a share of the profits. Get ready, we’ll head to America in the next couple of days.”

Hearing they could finally leave Tuvalu, the members of Li Dan Niu’s crew hurried back to their rooms to pack. In a country with no entertainment, they really couldn’t stay any longer.

“What about us?” Liz looked at Li Dan Niu with pleading eyes. He had previously told them to lay low for a while, and now, seeing that the group was leaving for America, she feared being left behind in Tuvalu.

“You two can go back if you want. Just make sure you’re not photographed in the near future, and try not to post anything on Facescroll.” Li Dan Niu couldn’t truly restrict their freedom.

“That’s great, we’ll go pack too!” Liz cheered and prepared to leave.

Douglas was also glad to leave this dreadful place, but he assured, “Boss, don’t worry. For your big bonus, we’ll make sure no one knows we’re still alive.”

“What nonsense, when did I say you should pretend to be dead?” Li Dan Niu smiled wryly. “It’s best if things are a mix of truth and falsehood.”

“Understood!”

In the blink of an eye, everyone left, and Li Dan Niu was alone.

He barely had time to relax before Burns, upon learning Li Dan Niu had finished his work, hurried over.

“Your Majesty, there’s progress on purchasing the Auckland Islands.”

“Tell me.” Li Dan Niu was eager to know, for this was the first step in Tuvalu’s rise.

“I distributed the three million dollars you gave me, and got promises. A few MPs are asking for a total of fifty million dollars, and they can guarantee the proposal to sell the Auckland Islands passes. As for the price, it can be kept between five and six hundred million dollars.” Burns looked troubled as he added, “Also, our infrastructure on the islands must use a few construction companies connected to them.”

Damn, fifty million dollars just for bribes—how greedy could they be? The Auckland Islands had nothing but a rundown airport; all building materials had to be imported. Even if construction followed Tuvalu’s current standards, the profit in those costs would definitely be no less than fifty million dollars.

“Isn’t the New Zealand government supposed to be the cleanest in the world?” Li Dan Niu recalled an article he’d read. Had New Zealand in this world become the most corrupt government?

“That’s true, an organization did publish such an investigation.” Burns smiled ruefully. “But, Your Majesty, in a country with an annual GDP over a hundred billion dollars, no matter how clean, it’s impossible not to have corruption.”

A hundred billion dollars qualifies as a big country? Li Dan Niu scoffed at this. Once Tuvalu rises, he’ll easily create a state enterprise with a hundred billion dollars in revenue.

“Is there any room to bargain?” Li Dan Niu asked, though he had little confidence. To even think of bargaining over bribes was pitiful.

“I don’t think there’s much room.” Burns thought, then added, “The real problem is, we don’t have that much money. Even if your necklace sells successfully, the funds we can gather aren’t even half their demand. Plus, we still have to build infrastructure on the Auckland Islands…”

Burns was right. At present, Tuvalu’s most valuable asset was the necklace Li Dan Niu had brought out, expected to fetch over two hundred million dollars. The country’s own reserves were only tens of millions, with no reliable, stable income. There was no way to scrape together five hundred million dollars to buy the islands, let alone build from scratch afterwards.

“If we give bigger gifts, could we lower the price for the Auckland Islands?” This tactic Li Dan Niu had learned from a period of state asset loss in a certain country.

“Not likely!” Burns shook his head. “Based on the highest unit price for islands currently on the market, the Auckland Islands should be worth about two hundred million dollars. But the catch is, we want permanent sovereignty, not just seventy or a hundred years of usage rights. Getting them to agree to the sale is already hard enough. If they dared sell cheaply, the people of New Zealand would never accept it.”

Damn it all. Li Dan Niu sighed and said, “I’ll leave this entirely to you. Make sure we don’t waste money only to have them refuse to sell in the end.”

“But we don’t have enough money.” Burns was anxious. “Your Majesty, Tuvalu’s annual revenue is barely over ten million dollars, and after expenses, there’s a deficit every year. New Zealand would never agree to installment payments.”

Burns had assumed Li Dan Niu was thinking about installments. If only counting gifts and infrastructure costs, it might barely be possible, but the main expense was the land itself. Installments required proof of repayment ability—otherwise, who would agree?

“Installments? Why would we need installments?” Li Dan Niu thought for a moment, then said, “Don’t worry about the money. Five hundred million dollars is nothing—I can handle it.”

Saying this, Li Dan Niu felt he was defying the heavens. A man who once couldn’t afford a two-bedroom apartment in a third-tier city was now talking about five hundred million dollars as if it were nothing—only four words: I can handle it.

“Your Majesty, I…” Burns didn’t voice his disbelief, but he couldn’t believe Li Dan Niu. How could he possibly handle it?

“Has Harry called you these days?”

“Harry?” Burns didn’t know why Li Dan Niu brought up Harry, but answered honestly, “He’s been calling for days, but when I saw that his message said fifty-five percent, I didn’t answer. I wanted to let him stew for a while. He hasn’t called since.”

“Do you know why he stopped calling?” Li Dan Niu smiled.

“Uh, no.”

“Here, take a look at this article.” Li Dan Niu brought Burns to the computer and opened a news report.

‘One Hundred Thousand Copies Sold in a Week—’

“‘The Lord of the Rings’? Is this your book, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

“How much can it earn?” Burns asked excitedly.

“Thirty dollars a set, I get fifty percent. You do the math.”

“Thirty per set, a hundred thousand sets is three million? Fifty percent is one and a half million dollars? One and a half million a week, that’s over six million a month? Wouldn’t that be more than seventy million a year?” The more Burns calculated, the more excited he became. If it earned seventy million a year, this book alone could buy the Auckland Islands.

“Burns, who taught you math? No, what’s your IQ?”