American Gossip King

Chapter 235 All the benefits in the world are yours

When Vincent opened his eyes, he saw nothing but whiteness in front of him.

Not far away, Ian Carl was sitting there, looking at his computer with a big smile on his face.

Am I in a hospital room?

Vincent was stunned: "You're dead? Mr. Carl?"

Ian Carl chuckled: "No, it's you who didn't die."

Vincent gaped in astonishment: "I'm not dead?"

He wanted to check his condition, but found that he was in pain all over his body, unable to move, and his body was wrapped up like a rice dumpling.

The nurse quickly pressed him down: "Don't move. You're not dead, but you're not alright."

Vincent looked at Ian speechlessly: "How did I survive? I remember being shot through the heart?"

Ian shrugged: "That didn't actually happen; it's just your imagination."

"Fuck!" Vincent roared. "Does this mean I won't get that million-dollar compensation?"

Ian laughed when he heard this.

He looked up at Vincent and said, "You don't have the million-dollar compensation anymore, but you can get an eight hundred thousand bonus for this interview. The reason we didn't give you more is because it's not appropriate to exceed the compensation. Take good care of your injuries. You can still make money. Anyway, under normal circumstances, you still have one or two years to live. You can still do a lot of things. There's no need to rush to become a martyr."

Vincent was so happy he couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear.

I don't want to die young either.

The nurse was quite displeased: "You shouldn't get excited right now, it will cause the wound to reopen."

Vincent laughed and said, "Money is the best medicine."

He then turned to Ian and asked, "How's our news going?"

"It hasn't been released yet," Ian replied.

Vincent was stunned.

It hasn't been released yet?

How is that possible?

This isn't like Ian at all!

Normally, before the people at the Grand Theatre have even left and the scene has been cleaned up, Ian's exclusive news would already be on the front page of major media outlets.

Ian stood up and said, "Don't worry about this, I'll handle it."

He said a few words of comfort to Vincent, then left the ward and walked to a ward next door.

When Ian arrived at the next ward, he saw Natasha lying there, and Ekaterina was peeling an apple for her.

Several Russian officials stood beside the two beautiful women.

One of them was Prikin, who warmly extended his hand to Ian: "Mr. Ian Carl, thank you very much this time."

"You're welcome," Ian said nonchalantly.

A day has passed since the incident, and all hostages, regardless of whether they were injured, have been sent to the hospital. It was ultimately determined that seven hostages died and thirty-seven were injured.

Compared to the deaths of more than a hundred hostages in the previous life, the casualties this time have been reduced to an extremely low level.

Moscow immediately began handling the aftermath, but the situation has not yet been released to the public. They have only stated that the problem has been resolved, without specifying how or what the casualties were.

There's no other way; we have to deal with Ian Carl first.

Although Ian Karl didn't say anything, with Ekaterina and Natasha present, everyone already knew what he was planning.

Therefore, before the formal talks, the authorities had already conducted an internal consultation on this matter.

At that moment, Prigin said, "Mr. Karl, do you have time? I'd like to invite you for a drink."

This is a meeting arranged with the local authorities.

Ian shook his head: "Let's talk about it here."

Everyone here is shrewd, and Prigin immediately realized that these two girls would also be one of the bargaining chips.

Great, I like this!

If you, Ian, are willing, the Security Bureau is willing to send you a hundred swallows.

At that moment, everyone sat down on Natasha's hospital bed.

Prikin said, "We appreciate that you have captured a lot of footage but haven't released it yet."

Ian filmed a lot of things, including interviews with Balayev and other militants, interviews with hostages, and documentaries of the fighting.

The release of these contents corresponds to different meanings.

If Ian releases videos about Chechen militants, documenting and describing their lives to show the public that they are also living, breathing people fighting for their ideals, the public will sympathize with them, and international public opinion will be influenced as a result.

Conversely, if Ian were to release interviews with the hostages, the effect would be entirely different.

Humans are visual beings, and their cognition is easily manipulated by the media. They only believe what they see and rarely think about what they don't see.

Therefore, these two types of content represent different directions.

As for the video of Ian's hunt, it corresponds to the role played by special forces. If the public knew that it was the special forces' forced incursion that led to the failure of Ian Karl's hunt for terrorists, ultimately resulting in the deaths of seven hostages and injuries to thirty-seven others, it would increase skepticism and resentment towards the Russian armed forces.

These things are deadly!

Fortunately, Ian was not released, which means there is room for negotiation.

Sure enough, Ian laughed and said, "Then let's keep it simple, shall we? Let's get rid of all the formalities and red tape. I'll tell you what I want, and you can decide whether you can fulfill it."

Prigin sighed, "Speak."

Ian said, "I need a 10% stake in Gazprom, but it won't be in my name; I'll make other arrangements. I won't get involved in the company's management; I'll just take the money."

As expected, all you want is money.

The latest novel is first published here!

Prigin chuckled, "That's a lot of money. How much are you planning to offer?"

Ian shook his head: "I don't have that much cash, so I need the Russian National Bank to provide me with a loan, at market price, please."

Prikin was increasingly speechless.

Just tell them you want it for free.

Borrowing money from the National Bank of Russia to buy shares in Gazprom could make a fortune simply by profiting from the price difference.

Gazprom is the world's largest natural gas producer and is majority-owned by the Federal Property Management Agency of the Russian Federation.

The company, ranked 49th in the Fortune Global 500, has an annual turnover of over 100 billion US dollars, a profit margin of around 25%, and annual profits of tens of billions.

Such a powerful company, and a state-owned enterprise, would never be controlled by Americans under normal circumstances.

But things are different now.

Although Ian's decision to use Russian money to buy shares in a Russian company seems like a great bargain, it also means that these shares are pledged. So you don't have to worry about the shares flowing out of the country, or about foreigners controlling the company, or about foreigners politically controlling this state-owned enterprise.

They're just here to make money, but they're making way too much—10% means billions of dollars a year. They'd be raking in the interest rate spreads, so this price is outrageous!

Generally speaking, political motives outweigh monetary ones.

However, when the amount of money reaches a certain level, it becomes political in itself.

Russia is also short of money and certainly doesn't have the capacity to send billions to Ian every year.

Prikin said helplessly, "That's far from enough."

Asking for an exorbitant price and then negotiating the final price!

So Ian laughed and said, "Let me tell you what will happen next. First, if you reject my proposal, I will release all the interviews with Barayev and those Chechen militants. People will sympathize with them, and the idea of ​​listing Chechen militants as terrorists will fail! Second, if you accept my proposal, then these interviews will not be released, and I will help you solidify the fact that they are Chechen terrorists. At the same time, Natasha and Ekaterina will become the heroes of this Grand Theatre incident, beautiful heroines! And I can legitimately take them to Hollywood and make them celebrities... I don't need to become an invincible war god, which means fewer people will bother me."

"What did you say?" Several Russian officials were taken aback at the same time.

Ekaterina and Natasha were also shocked.

Ian nodded: "So many hostages witnessed the battle. They know they weren't rescued by special forces. Attributing all the credit to the special forces would only expose their involvement and be counterproductive. It's enough to keep some of the credit. But Ekaterina and Natasha did participate in the rescue. Praising them is a fact, at most a bit exaggerated!"

Then Ian shrugged: "I'm not taking this money for nothing. I promised you my company wouldn't spread rumors about you or slander you without reason, but I'm the only one who can't do it. There are many media outlets in America, and everyone has their own voice. As an American, I can't sacrifice myself for you. But Ekaterina and Natasha can! Bring them with me, and I'll make them celebrities in America."

"When your country needs someone to speak up for you in the future, you will no longer have to worry about whether Ian Karl will do this for his own benefit."

"Because there are two readily available Russian celebrities, as members of the Russian State Security Service, who can do this for you, even if it means sacrificing their own careers, but at least they are amplifying the voices you want to amplify. I call this: self-destructive rhetoric!"

Prigin stared at him, bewildered.

And this kind of operation?

You speak up for us, and then you don't have to pay any price yourself?

And you, having gained such a huge advantage, can still have the audacity to say, "This way you'll trust me more?"

It makes a lot of sense, but why does it feel like you've taken all the good things in the world?

Instead, Seryozha's eyes lit up: "I think this is a great idea... I should have given you a few more beauties!"

Ian chuckled. "There's always time, buddy, there's always time!"

(End of this chapter)