Chapter 90: Madness (Third Update, Seeking First Subscription)

After finishing his words, Sun Haitao took out his phone and dialed a number.

Ding Qianhui did not leave, standing quietly to the side.

He hadn’t seen whom the editor-in-chief was calling, but could more or less guess.

The call connected quickly, and Sun Haitao got straight to the point: “Old Ma, I have a big project here—do you dare to take it?”

“A big project?” On the other end, Ma Litong, the founder of Samsara Studio, curled his lip.

“You’re not talking about the comic adaptation rights for ‘The Immortal Execution,’ are you, Old Sun? Don’t set me up. You know Samsara is shifting toward animation right now—we can’t afford any missteps.”

Sun Haitao remained unhurried, speaking slowly, “You think I’d set you up? Old Ma, after all these years of friendship, do you think I’d do that to you?”

Ma Litong pondered and then said, “Give me the truth, Old Sun—what’s ‘The Immortal Execution’ really like? Don’t tell me you haven’t read a single chapter. I won’t believe that kind of nonsense.”

Sun Haitao didn’t answer directly, but asked in return, “Do you have so little faith in a top author?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust the author—I just don’t trust the xianxia genre,” Ma Litong replied bitterly. “You know better than I do what it’s become. There are still some readers following the old guard, but when it comes to comics, almost nobody buys them.”

In the world of online fiction, a few veteran xianxia authors still had readers trailing after them.

But once adapted into comics, those readers were unlikely to pay for it.

Sun Haitao said slowly, “I can’t give you spoilers—that would break the rules.”

“All I can tell you is, this is a tremendous opportunity for Samsara.”

Ding Qianhui kept his eyes down, pretending not to have heard a thing.

Sun Haitao’s words were already a clear hint, and according to Bairu Literature’s rules, that was not permitted.

But Ding Qianhui wasn’t foolish enough to report the editor-in-chief for abusing his position over this.

On the other end, Ma Litong laughed bitterly. “Old Sun, you’re making me uneasy. Samsara is at a critical transition point. We’ve already been suppressed and squeezed by several animation companies as we shift from a comic studio to a full animation outfit. If this transition fails, Samsara will cease to exist—all over.”

“If you want a smooth and successful transformation, and to get a foothold in the animation world, trust me—develop both comics and animation,” Sun Haitao replied, calm and steady.

Ding Qianhui wanted to remind his boss not to be so blatant.

Not only was he offering the comic adaptation rights to Samsara, but judging from his tone, he was also planning to hand over the animation rights as well.

Then again, Ma Litong was no fool—you wouldn’t be able to run a comic studio and move into the more lucrative animation field if you were.

Sure enough, after days of anxiety about the transformation, Ma Litong finally laughed.

He and Sun Haitao were old friends from university, classmates even, so their conversations were more candid. “Are you really trying to ruin me?”

Sun Haitao’s hint was clear: he wanted Ma Litong not only to buy the comic adaptation rights for ‘The Immortal Execution’ but also the animation rights.

If he went through with this, it would either be a huge success or a complete disaster.

“As long as you understand that I wouldn’t set you up, that’s enough,” Sun Haitao said firmly.

That much was all that needed to be said.

There was silence on the other end.

Sun Haitao was in no hurry; he understood Ma Litong’s hesitation. Samsara was at a pivotal moment. For him to spend money buying the adaptation rights to a work the industry widely expected to flop—if not for their friendship, Sun Haitao wouldn’t be surprised if Ma Litong hung up on him right there.

After a long pause, Ma Litong gritted his teeth. “All right, Old Sun. I trust you.”

He didn’t believe Sun Haitao would set him up.

It wasn’t worth it to ruin a relationship with Samsara over a reservation fee of just a few hundred thousand, especially given their longstanding friendship.

Personal connections were worth far more than the adaptation rights to ‘The Immortal Execution.’

Sun Haitao said leisurely, “Actually, the game rights…”

He was cut off before he could finish. “You bastard,” Ma Litong cursed and hung up.

He had just barely agreed to the animation adaptation rights, knowing that Samsara needed a breakthrough animation to open the market.

If only they could have secured the animation rights to ‘Battle Through the Heavens’—but back then, Samsara had only just started thinking about transformation and was no match for the established animation companies.

As for game adaptations—

Damn! Samsara hadn’t even gained a foothold in animation yet, and he was already thinking about games?

That would be asking for trouble.

Having listened to the entire exchange, Ding Qianhui was stunned. The editor-in-chief had actually pulled it off.

Not only had he sold the comic adaptation rights, but also the animation rights.

In fact, Samsara Studio was quite strong in the comic industry; otherwise, Sun Haitao wouldn’t have risked giving such an obvious hint.

If they weren’t up to it, no amount of personal friendship would have made him do it—otherwise, the result would only be his own downfall.

Sun Haitao wasn’t about to risk his career for friendship’s sake.

…

Meanwhile—

When Ma Litong announced to the studio that he had acquired both the comic and animation adaptation rights for ‘The Immortal Execution,’ it instantly caused a huge uproar.

All the other senior staff were furious. No one knew how the new work by the famous author would perform, and yet he’d already bought the rights?

Not only the comic rights, but the animation rights as well.

“Boss Ma, Samsara isn’t just your company—we’ve all poured our efforts into it. If you do this, you’ll destroy everything we’ve built.”

“That’s right, Boss Ma. Even if we want to buy the adaptation rights to ‘The Immortal Execution,’ we should at least wait until the main text is released and see the quality first!”

“Boss Ma, our first animation must be handled with extreme caution. Our survival in the animation industry depends on it.”

“Exactly—buying the animation rights now is far too rash.”

“Boss Ma, did you get some inside info from Bairu Literature?”

“Is ‘The Immortal Execution’ going to be a massive hit?”

The higher-ups all knew Ma Litong had close ties with a senior figure at Bairu Literature. Thanks to that relationship, Samsara had gotten quite a few high-quality online novel comic adaptation deals from them.

“If there’s a problem, I’ll take responsibility,” Ma Litong said, and with that, the room fell silent.

Did he regret buying the rights?

Ma Litong did not regret it. Once he decided, he would not look back.

Samsara had lost out to Chaser Studio in the competition for the comic adaptation rights to ‘Battle Through the Heavens.’

This time, ‘The Immortal Execution’ wouldn’t be much worse than ‘Battle Through the Heavens.’

That was the only way to comfort himself.

He immediately gave the studio’s illustrators a new urgent order.

“As soon as ‘The Immortal Execution’ releases its main chapters, we need to update the comic as quickly as possible.”

“Based on the author’s usual habits, all chapters should be released around 6 p.m. Our task is to have all the newly updated content illustrated by 6 p.m. the next day—no exceptions.”

At this, all the illustrators of Samsara were dumbfounded.

They instinctively glanced at their right hands. At this rate, their hands would be ruined—completely ruined.

They were well aware of how terrifying the author’s update speed could be. To keep up within a day’s time—

Comics are not like prose.

A few lines of text can describe an entire scene or plot point, but with comics, sketching, coloring, characters, backgrounds—every process takes time.

Moreover, each illustrator already had other assignments to complete.

But the boss had spoken; they had no choice but to comply.

Their right hands would simply have to endure.

Their boss had lost his mind.

And he was going to drive all his employees mad as well.

—

PS: First draft, will revise later. Please point out any errors. Remember this site’s address for next time, or search for it on Baidu to enter directly.