America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 16, Part 16.

"Lisa, how old are you?"

Holding a stack of free chips worth $10,000, Eric followed the alluring secretary into the casino.

Lisa frowned slightly: "Mr. Cooper, it's not a good habit to ask a woman's age so casually."

Then she smiled and said, "But since you're young and handsome, I'll tell you that you're 28, single, and a mother of two."

"Wow, your figure shows absolutely no signs of having given birth. You look just like a 20-year-old girl."

Eric said with some surprise, "That's really true. This girl in front of me is indeed very tempting and has a lot of allure."

Lisa smiled and said, "I know, otherwise why would I be Mr. Kelcorian's secretary?"

"What would you like to play? Poker, dice, roulette, or slot machines?"

Eric's mind drifted to the Las Vegas scenes from Friends, the fifth season of which was filmed in Las Vegas, though he didn't know which casino it was.

"Let's roll the dice and see if I can hit the bullseye every time like Monica."

Are you a Friends fan?

"Of course, I'm a huge fan."

"Then you should definitely give it a try, because that episode was filmed here."

"Really?" Eric asked, somewhat surprised.

Lisa nodded: "Yes, I say that to every guest."

Hahahaha

"I want two 1s."

At the gambling table, Eric casually tossed the dice, which spun around a few times before finally flipping over and revealing a 1.

Lisa tilted her head slightly and hummed a rather evocative note in a nasal tone: "Good luck."

"Then there are two 2s."

Eric tossed the die again at random, and after spinning a few times, both dice landed on the same surface.

The dealer pushed a stack of chips in front of Eric: "Sir, would you like to continue?"

"Of course, let's keep two 3s."

Without even looking, he tossed the dice, and under everyone's gaze, the dice finally landed on two threes.

OH

Cheers erupted around him, much to Eric's surprise.

"Could I be the reincarnation of the God of Gamblers? I think there was a movie in Hong Kong called 'God of Gamblers vs. Las Vegas'."

Lisa looked at him with some surprise: "You lucky dog!"

Eric shrugged: "Let's continue then, two more 4s."

A crowd of people around them cheered, and amidst everyone's enthusiastic gazes, the dice actually rolled two 4s.

Now, even the dealer looked at him suspiciously, as if to say, "Hey kid, are you cheating?"

However, Lisa is the boss's secretary, so the people she brought couldn't possibly have cheated; it was just good luck.

Soon, the cheers attracted many people around, surrounding Eric and Lisa in the center.

"Sir, shall we continue?"

Eric looked at Lisa, who nodded without hesitation: "Of course, we're riding high right now!"

Eric couldn't help but pinch Lisa's delicate chin: "Then let's listen to you, girl. What do we want next?"

"Of course it's two 5s, and I think that's what everyone wants to see."

Five!

Five!

Five!

A group of people raised their arms and shouted loudly.

Amid their shouts, Eric tossed the dice, which rolled a few times before settling on two 5s.

Yeah

Eric didn't feel anything when he saw the result, after all, he had earned 11 billion, but the audience around him were excitedly cheering.

The dealer handed over the dice again, which Eric tossed in his hand. "Want to play again?"

Lisa blinked: "Let's do it one last time, how about two 6s?"

"As you wish, my lady, if you guessed correctly, these chips are all yours as a small gift."

Upon hearing this, Lisa became excited. If she won the next round, her 10,000 chips would quadruple, becoming a full 40,000 US dollars.

Don't be fooled into thinking that being Kerkelion's secretary makes her a millionaire; that's a misconception.

Because there are six secretaries like Lisa in Kerkorian, each responsible for a simple task.

The real chief secretary is someone else, and she wouldn't be the one to play the role of a mistress. A big shot like Kerkorian wouldn't put his mistress in the company; only the most foolish person would make such a decision.

So $40,000 is equivalent to half a year's income for her.

The dice spun around in front of everyone, and after several collisions, it finally landed on 12.

In an instant, Lisa threw herself into Eric's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck.

A murmured sound reached Eric's ear.

"Come with me, I feel like my body is on fire."

"Your home?"

"No, I can't wait that long!"

After instructing the dealer to exchange the chips, the two went into the restroom one after the other, indulging in unrestrained debauchery—the eternal theme of Las Vegas.

Amidst the surprised and envious glances of those around him, Eric walked out of the bathroom looking refreshed.

He lost interest in gambling and, accompanied by Lisa, went to the theater to watch an opera, where Don Juan was being performed.

The opera was almost over, but there was still no news from my dad.

"Could it be that they couldn't reach an agreement?"

The more Eric thought about it, the more agitated he became. Suddenly, he grabbed Lisa's hand and rushed to the bathroom again.

"I have a very bad temper!"

Inside the opera house, the two men, sweating profusely, suddenly jolted awake.

"It's my phone. It's the boss. He wants to invite you to dinner. It seems your father's discussion with him has reached a conclusion."

"I hope so! Humph!"

On the plane, Charlie Cooper was all smiles: "I told you, Kerkorian has absolutely no interest in movies; the only thing he cares about is the MGM hotel business."

"Furthermore, we've known each other for over ten years, so the process went very smoothly. He only made one request."

"What are the conditions?"

"If we were to sell MGM, he would have priority, and I agreed."

Eric nodded to himself. It seemed that Kerkelien didn't think his father could run MGM well. But thinking about it, it made sense. His father had been a senior executive for so many years, and MGM was still barely surviving.

In Kerkorian's view, he and his son had probably fooled some sucker and obtained financing, but it didn't matter. It wouldn't be long before MGM was back in his hands and continued to be used as a money laundering tool.

"But I also made a condition: the $28 billion will be paid in two installments. We will pay $20 billion first, and the remaining $8 million will be paid within two years. This is the seed money."

Eric chuckled: "Although it has a bit of a financial fraud feel to it, I'll make sure the bank and Kerkelion don't have that chance."

The review process is too strict; even a little bit of explicit content is not allowed. I had no choice but to delete everything.

(End of this chapter)