America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 862 Eternal Comrades

A silver private jet with red markings soars through the clouds like an eagle.

Lily and Elizabeth came out of the back bedroom and slumped into the sofa chairs, looking exhausted, their heads resting together, not wanting to talk.

Martin then came out and sat down opposite them.

Suddenly, the captain announced in the cabin that there was turbulence ahead and that everyone should fasten their seatbelts.

Martin glanced across the way; Lily and Elizabeth seemed to still be in a daze, so he quickly went over to help them fasten their seatbelts.

He returned to his seat, fastened his seatbelt, and not long after, the plane began to shake.

Elizabeth was the first to come to her senses and hugged Lily tightly.

The latter had a slight fear of flying and snuggled into Elizabeth's arms without saying a word.

A few minutes later, the plane returned to normal.

Martin had the flight attendant bring over two glasses of fruit wine and said to Lily, "Drink something sweet; you'll recover quickly."

Lily, who had lost a lot of water, picked up the glass, drank the fruit wine in a few gulps, and then said to the flight attendant, "I'd like another glass of lemonade, please."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her condition had improved, and said, "The air currents are particularly strong on this route."

Martin said, "I asked the airport, and it's not a big problem." He then mentioned another incident: "Earlier this year, that idiot Leo went to Russia for an event, and they encountered severe convective weather. A piece of the wing broke off, and he thought he was going to die on that plane."

Lily calmed herself down: "Can we not talk about this? I've been experiencing turbulence several times along the way, and I've gotten airsick."

Lily glared at Martin first, then looked pitifully at Elizabeth: "Did you hear that? He's always bullying me."

Elizabeth pulled Lily close, letting her nestle against her chest, and reminded Martin, "Don't scare her."

Lily lay on the soft surface, ignoring Martin, who had made her feel sick after getting airsick and then chicken-sick, and took out her phone to look at it.

There was Wi-Fi on the plane. She opened Twitter, scrolled through it for a while, and said, "Martin, you idiot, you're trending again!"

Martin was already indifferent to trending topics, and simply asked, "It's not a scandal, is it?"

Elizabeth glanced down and said, "One of your fans built a website for you, and it got a lot of responses."

Lily placed her phone on the table.

Martin picked it up, quickly scanned the page, and said, "Are these guys planning to create a god?"

The website is called "Martin Davis is Immortal".

"John Wick 3 has been a huge box office hit, and you're incredibly popular now." Elizabeth was clearly a little worried. "On the internet, you've almost become a god-like figure."

Martin understood what she meant: "Being a god isn't easy; if you make a mistake later, it will cause a lot of trouble."

In his memory, no god created on the internet is immune to backlash, let alone someone with a lot of scandals.

Lily sat up straight and said to Elizabeth, "Why don't we get some media outlets to smear that bastard Martin!"

Elizabeth smiled, revealing her dimples: "That's a good idea. Rather than letting others endlessly smear you, it's better to have controlled smear campaigns to break these idolization movements and make people understand that you are just a person, not the god they think you are."

Martin fully agreed: "I'll leave this to the two of you."

Lily, who had just finished an art exhibition and was currently unemployed, said, "Liz and I promise to get this done."

Bruce waved to them.

Elizabeth saw it and reminded Martin, "Old Brooks is looking for you."

Martin got up and went to the front, sitting opposite Bruce.

Bruce said in a low voice, "The results from Alexandrovich's side should be out soon."

Martin knew this referred to the presidential election in Ukraine.

Bruce added, "In the last poll, Alexandrovich's approval rating was close to 80 percent."

Martin nodded and asked, "The results today?"

Bruce checked the time and calculated the time difference, then said, "It's about time."

…………

Kyiv, Parliament Building.

The moment the election results were announced, a deafening roar erupted from the crowd, and nearly 70% of the attendees cheered loudly.

In front of their televisions, countless Ukrainians rejoiced, eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new president—a president who truly belonged to the Ukrainian people, a president who could lead Ukraine back to its former glory.

The past two decades have proven that politicians and oligarchs cannot save Ukraine.

But the Ukrainian people believe that a national hero can save this broken and impoverished country.

Most Ukrainians placed their hopes on Alexandrovich.

Inside the parliament hall, Alexandrovich remained calm and composed. Although he embraced and celebrated with every member of his campaign team, he did not appear overjoyed.

Over the past year, he has become more mature and better at concealing his true feelings.

Alexandrovich was originally an actor, and his acting skills were quite good.

He then delivered a victory speech, reiterating his commitment to leading Ukraine down a completely new path!

The Ukrainians were greatly encouraged.

These people had no idea that Alexandrovich had already completed his transformation from actor to politician.

The election results are in, but there is still some time before he takes office.

Surrounded by bodyguards, Alexandrovich and his wife Olina left the parliament building and got into a bulletproof car.

As the car left the city center, Alexandrovich received a phone call.

He wasn't surprised. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he took the initiative to invite the other person to the subsequent celebratory dinner.

The armored car arrived at the Grand Hotel Ukraine, where Igor, the head of the Privat Group, was waiting for him.

Before the celebratory dinner began, Alexandrovich invited Igor into the reception room he had prepared.

Igor, with his gray beard, looked dashing and debonair—a typical handsome older man—and said with a smile, "Congratulations on your successful election."

Alexandrovich, however, smiled and said, "We should be congratulating ourselves."

Igor laughed heartily: "How's your cabinet formation going?"

Alexandrovich replied seriously, "The personnel have been basically finalized."

Igor nodded, waiting for him to give his opinion.

Alexandrovich lowered his voice: "What we agreed on, I will start doing immediately once I take office and stabilize the situation."

Because of its proximity to Russia in recent years, Igor has been subject to sanctions by Western countries led by the United States, which has greatly affected the group's business. His support for Alexandrovich is also intended to ease relations with the West through him.

There's no way around it; in the eyes of arrogant Westerners, this Ukrainian tycoon is not even human. Being sanctioned is easy, but being unblocked is very difficult.

Igor has finally seen through it all: the democracy and freedom that the West talks about are all nonsense. Not to mention ordinary people in Ukraine and Russia, even billionaires would be nothing more than fish on a chopping board if they went there.

They even offered themselves up to us.

Alexandrovich added, "This matter is somewhat troublesome. Once I take office, I would appreciate it if Mr. Igor could provide the necessary data and information so that I can work more efficiently."

Igor was pleased with the attitude of the incoming president: "I've already had it prepared; I'll bring it to you later."

Alexandrovich stood up and bowed ninety degrees to Igor: "Thank you for your support, Mr. Igor!"

This attitude pleased Igor even more. He quickly stood up and helped Alexandrovich to his feet: "We are friends and comrades-in-arms. From now on, we will fight side by side."

Alexandrovich grasped Igor's hand firmly: "We are comrades-in-arms forever!"

As the celebratory dinner began, Alexandrovich and Olina moved with ease among the crowd.

Because he came from the entertainment industry, his campaign team was also basically composed of people from the entertainment industry.

These people are also about to take up important positions.

Alexandrovich was bound to reward those who had contributed, and he had already prepared a list of important positions.

For example, the future Secretary General will be producer Trofemov, the Mayor of Kyiv will be his boxing friend, and a television producer who has worked with him for a long time will serve as the head of the security bureau.

In short, this will be the first government to significantly fill important positions with television and film comedians.

After the dinner, Alexandrovich and Olina returned home.

The two went into the study and talked about some things.

This study, based on Bruce's suggestion, was specially modified to block all electronic signals.

Olina asked, "What does Igor want someone for?"

"Those things that made me keep my promises meant that I would always be his friend and comrade-in-arms..." Alexandrovich knew perfectly well what these meant: "He wanted me to remain a puppet of the Privat Group forever."

Olena was quite indignant: "Martin has helped us so much, and he hasn't asked for anything in return."

Alexandrovich raised his hand to interrupt his wife: "That was before. Who can say what will happen in the future?"

"Whatever you do, I will support you." Olina held her husband's hand. "But I must remind you, our foundation lies in the West."

Alexandrovich said slowly, "I promised all Ukrainians that I would fight corruption, regulate the market, accelerate market reforms, and develop the Ukrainian economy."

He had already thought about it: "Even if I can't keep some promises, I still need to show enough of a show so that I can stay in that position. Developing the economy is too difficult. To be honest, I don't know how to develop it either, but the first three things are easy for Ukrainians to see results from."

Olina immediately understood: "Targeting the oligarchs?"

"That's right, just like I said last time, we'll start with Igor and the Privas Group!" Alexandrovich said. "This will show Ukraine and the world my determination to fight corruption and implement market reforms!"

Olina cautioned, "It would be difficult for us to do this on our own."

Alexandrovich said, "I dedicate the Privas Group to Martin and his allies; the Americans will help us."

Olina looked at her husband with a hint of admiration in her eyes.

Martin definitely owes them a favor, since they've decided to follow the Western path, while the Privas Group wants to control them and make them puppets, which they don't want to be puppets.

Perfect timing! We can leverage the power of the Western bloc to suppress the Privas Group, and with the power we'll have then, there's a very high chance we'll be able to take down the Privas Group.

The assets of the Privas Group can also serve as a bridge connecting the West.

That night, Alexandrovich and Olina discussed things almost all night long.

…………

At Los Angeles International Airport, a silver-and-red-striped business jet lands on a private tarmac.

Several bodyguards who remained in Los Angeles arrived at the airport in multiple Cadillacs to pick them up.

Martin and his group got into the car and headed straight for Beverly Hills.

When Martin got home, he first went to sleep with Lily and Elizabeth.

The two women were probably exhausted from the plane flight; they took a shower, lay down, and fell asleep immediately.

Martin came downstairs, and Bruce was waiting in the living room.

The two went to the study.

Bruce closed the door and said, "The results from Ukraine are in. Alexandrovich was elected by a landslide."

Martin said, "It was the result I expected."

Bruce said, "Alexandrovich called ten minutes ago and had something very important he wanted to discuss with us before taking office."

Martin wasn't in a hurry and waited for him to continue.

Bruce continued, "His plan is to consolidate power after taking office, and then use anti-corruption and market reforms as a breakthrough to win the support of the Ukrainian people, especially the military. His target is the Privas group, and he asked the Western world if they could help him deal with this oligarchic group."

He paused, then added, "If we can provide support, he plans to send Olina to Paris to meet with our people."

Martin had previously discussed this matter with Louise and Kelly, who used considerable political connections to effectively suppress the backlash from certain Ukrainian forces.

To put it bluntly, it means using the Western faction to attack the Eastern faction, like Privas, who leans towards Russia and the Tsar.

Martin thought for a moment and said, "Old Brooks, go to Paris and see Olina."

This matter could involve billions of dollars, and Bruce didn't hesitate at all: "I've already made an appointment with them to go to Paris this week."

Martin then contacted Louise and Kelly, and went out to meet Louise again.

For the following week, Martin took a break from work and spent the rest of the time traveling with Lily and Elizabeth.

The three of them also took a trip to Hawaii together.

Meanwhile, "John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum" continued its run in North America, but after a month of screenings, its box office growth slowed significantly, with a cumulative North American box office of $4.56 million.

Overseas, the company may be absent from the world's second-largest film market, where box office revenue has consistently lagged behind North America, with a current cumulative overseas box office of $3.66 million.

Negotiations are also underway with offline channels. Netflix approached Davis Studios, wanting to purchase the vacation online streaming rights for John Wick 3, offering $8000 million for the first year.

However, the prerequisite is that the film cannot be released on DVD within six months of its theatrical run ending.

The two sides are still negotiating because Netflix's price is not high enough.

Although Hollywood movie DVD revenue has declined year by year since 2012, and the days when DVDs could sell over $100 million in the first few months after release are over, it is still not a problem for a blockbuster movie to sell $60 to $70 million in its first year.

(End of this chapter)