PDLP Chapter 59: Company Established, Showa Veterans Return to the Team!
Chapter 59: Company Established, Showa Veterans Return to the Team!
Jinghai City, headquarters of Qi Ao Tian Zun.
The once magnificent lobby now appears deserted and desolate.
A sense of desolation, like a tree falling and monkeys scattering, permeated the air. The cleaning lady hadn't come to work for three days, and the instant noodle containers in the trash cans emitted a sour stench.
Top floor conference room.
Li Qiang, who was still the chairman, sat in the main seat in a leather swivel chair, his eyes sunken, looking as if he had aged ten years.
He stared intently at the financial statements in his hands; the shocking red characters on them looked like sharp knives.
Due to the overwhelming success of "Ultraman Tiga," "Superpower Overlord," a project that Qiao Tianzun invested heavily in, completely flopped. Over 100 million yuan worth of merchandise was left unsold, investors withdrew their funds, bank loans matured, and there was pressure to repurchase shares…
He was at his wit's end.
"Chairman Li, the person has arrived."
The secretary pushed open the door, her voice trembling.
Zhao Rui sat bolt upright, forcing himself to maintain his last shred of dignity: "Okay, we're almost there..."
Li Qiang felt as if he were visiting a funeral.
The door to the president's office was pushed open.
Gu Nan walked at the front, looking refreshed after his vacation. He was dressed in simple casual clothes and had a calm expression. He represented the Light Chaser Studio.
To his left was the legal team representing the Gu Group, each member dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, exuding an aura of authority.
To his right was a middle-aged man with a sharp look and wearing gold-rimmed Lindbergh glasses—Lin Yu, the Bilibili representative who had just been promoted to vice president by his uncle for his meritorious work in discovering Ultraman Tiga.
The combination of these three parties caused Zhao Rui's pupils to shrink sharply.
"Director Gu, you are truly a promising young man."
Li Qiang gritted his teeth, forcing out the words, "And President Lin, congratulations on your company's soaring market value!"
Lin Yu smiled faintly: "Thank you for your kind words, Mr. Li, but I'm afraid that in the business world, there are only interests, not grudges."
Gu Nan pulled out a chair and sat down without bothering with pleasantries: "Mr. Li, name your price."
Li Qiang took a deep breath and held out one hand: "5 million."
"This includes all the Showa Ultraman copyrights I own, as well as Qi Ao Tianzun's existing distribution channels and production lines. Gu Nan, you're a sensation online now. 5 million is just two or three years' worth of profit for you. With that, you'll have a monopoly on tokusatsu in Xia Country!"
Gu Nan burst out laughing after hearing this.
He glanced at the chief lawyer behind him, who immediately understood and pulled a thick stack of documents from his briefcase, handing them to Gu Nan.
"5 million? Mr. Li, you're so old, why don't you take a look at these before you speak?"
"Mr. Li, this is the brand value assessment report we commissioned from a third-party professional agency."
The lawyer added in a cold voice.
"Furthermore, due to your company's extensive licensing of low-quality web games and pirated toys during the period you held the copyright to 'Showa Ultraman,' and even the production of several poorly made works that severely damaged the character's image, the credibility of the IP among the audience has plummeted. Its current valuation is no longer that high."
"You're talking nonsense!"
Li Qiang slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.
"Mr. Li, don't be in such a hurry, there's more surprise to come!" Gu Nan leaned forward, his eyes blazing.
"This is a copy of the supplementary agreement my father obtained from the overseas copyright holder. The agreement clearly stipulates that if the licensee causes irreversible damage to the brand image of the IP, the licensor has the right to forcibly reclaim the copyright at any time for half the contract price. Do you think I need to read out all the cases over the years where your company has damaged the IP's image?"
"By the way, this is the legal representation agreement that Mr. Tsuburaya just signed, authorizing us to exercise this repurchase right on his behalf when necessary."
Li Qiang's expression changed instantly, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Lin Yu spoke up, his tone calm but carrying an undeniable pressure: "President Li, please face reality. The entire internet is boycotting Qi Ao Tian Zun, and your stock price has plummeted. We all know you're on the verge of delisting and desperately need funds to buy back shares; otherwise, the performance-based agreement..."
He pressed on relentlessly.
"In short... no one but us will take on this mess."
"Besides, we have no interest in your garbage company."
"All we want is the copyright to 'Showa Ultraman', as well as the few tokusatsu production lines and distributor channels you still have that haven't been decommissioned."
Zhao Rui, utterly exhausted, slumped back into his chair: "So... how much will you give me?"
Gu Nan held up one finger: "100 million. This amount, plus the money you got from selling your headquarters building, should be enough for you to pay off your recent debts that are due, and enough for you to take your share and... exit the game."
"1 million? You're robbing me!"
Li Qiang roared, "I spent so much on copyright fees back then... half a lifetime's worth of hard work... Damn Zhao Rui... you son of a bitch! You ruined it all!!"
"President Li, President Zhao and you two are truly birds of a feather! And the copyright fee from back then was for the future, which you ruined; now it's just a worthless piece of paper." Gu Nan stood up, glanced at his watch, and said, "You have five minutes to consider."
If you refuse in five minutes, we will explain the situation directly to Mr. Tsuburaya and formally sue you on the grounds of "exercising the repurchase right," and then…”
"We're going to help you save face..."
A deathly silence fell over the meeting room.
Li Qiang looked at the drafted contract in front of him, and then at Gu Nan's calm, almost frightening, eyes.
He knew he had lost completely.
This young man not only has technical skills, but also capital and legal backing, which is a comprehensive and devastating blow.
"I...sign."
"Zhao Rui...you've ruined my life..."
Li Qiang took the pen with trembling hands and signed his name at the end of the contract.
The sunlight was blinding as the group walked out of the Qiao Building.
"Brother Nan, that was awesome!"
Chen Bo roared to the sky, excitedly waving his fist, "That huge cancer, Qi Ao Tianzun, has finally been removed!"
Lin Yu extended his hand and shook hands firmly with Gu Nan: "Director Gu, it's been a pleasure working with you. On behalf of Bilibili, I would like to express my gratitude for our past and future in-depth cooperation."
Lin Yu suddenly tightened his grip, "Now, on behalf of myself, I thank you. Director Gu is truly my lucky star; it's so wonderful to have met you!"
Gu Nan nodded: "Then let's begin, our 'Chasing the Light Cinema'."
……
Three days later, in the CBD center of Jinghai City, Chasing Light Pictures was officially established.
This is a company destined to change the landscape of film and television in China, no, in all of Asia, and even the world!
The shareholder structure is extremely robust:
Gu Nan personally contributed his ownership of "Ultraman Tiga," his status as the core director, and his technological patents, holding a 20% stake and possessing absolute decision-making power and veto power. He is the soul of this company.
The original Chasing Light Studio will merge into the new company and take a 20% stake. According to the previous verbal agreement with everyone, Gu Nan will take half of the original Chasing Light Studio's shares, and the remainder will be shared by the other founding members, with a portion reserved as stock option rewards.
Therefore, Gu Nan personally holds a 30% stake in the new company.
Gu's Group, under Gu's father's control, provides funding and offline cinema support, a top-notch capital operation system, and a professionally-equipped film studio, holding a 35% stake. This forms the company's backbone.
Bilibili provides an exclusive traffic pool, a big data-driven marketing system, and all subsequent streaming revenue sharing rights, distributing and operating the content across the entire platform, while holding a 25% stake. This is the lifeblood of the company.
"Director Gu, this is our company's positioning report," Lin Yu said.
Gu Nan turned to the first page, which contained only one sentence:
[Establishing a unique benchmark for the industrialization of tokusatsu (special effects) films, reshaping the Ultraman universe.]
"Brother Nan, there are reporters all over the place, asking what our first move will be after acquiring the rights to Qi'ao," Chen Bo asked.
Gu Nan looked out the window, where clips from Ultraman Tiga were still playing on a loop on the screens of distant buildings.
Tell them they don't need to wait.
"Tonight, we're going to give the entire internet a surprise."
……
At 8 p.m., the once peaceful internet was completely ignited by a Weibo post.
The official Weibo account, originally named "Chasing Light Studio," has quietly changed its name to "Chasing Light Pictures" and is now verified as the official Weibo account of Chasing Light Pictures Film & Media Co., Ltd.
The blog posted its first message.
The accompanying image is a restored version of a high-quality black and white old photograph.
In the center of the image is Daigo, dressed in the GUTS uniform. He stands in the center position, with Ultraman Tiga standing behind him in the sunset.
What is most shocking is that behind Tiga's enormous body, amidst the layers of light and shadow, there are six faintly visible silver-red giant shadows!
Although blurry and just a silhouette, the iconic headband, cape, eye lights, and the figure imbued with the weight of time instantly struck a chord with everyone.
The accompanying text was just a simple sentence:
"The old soldiers are not dead, they have simply faded away. From this day forward, they have gone home."
boom!!!
In less than ten minutes, the Weibo post was forwarded over 100,000 times, and the comment section crashed instantly.
Bilibili's bullet screen website exploded with discussion.
[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! What did I just see? That's... the original? That's Seven?]
[That one with the spear is Jack! That one with the horns is Taro! Oh my god, did God bring them all back?!]
[Look upstairs! That's Zoffy! Ace's here too! The Showa Six Brothers! Everyone's here!]
[I cried, I really cried. Before, under Qi'ao's leadership, these veterans could only endorse those trashy "one-hit kill" browser games, ridiculed by everyone as outdated. Now, Gu Shen has brought them home!]
[Gu Shen is awesome! I knew it; whoever could create Ultraman Tiga would never let these heroes be tarnished!]
[Qiaotianzun is going bankrupt! Hooray! Tonight, the entire meal is on Young Master Gu! Let's begin!]
"Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away"—that line really hit me. Is Director Gu planning a remake of the Showa era series? Or is it a crossover with Ultraman Tiga Season 2?
The wave of public opinion swept across social media like a tsunami.
In this parallel world, Ultraman Showa was almost wiped out from people's sight due to the ruthless exploitation by unscrupulous capitalists, and was regarded by the public as "cheap childhood trash".
But now, with Gu Nan's photograph, those heroes who slumbered in the darkness seemed to have been given a new life in an instant.
The office of Chasing Light Film Studio.
Gu Nan stood up and personally added six dazzling red stars to the blueprint of the "Ultra Universe".
"Tiga is the light, and they are the root of tokusatsu."
"In Ultraman Tiga, the Showa-era veterans will also return."
That once barren era of tokusatsu (special effects) has come to a complete end.
The era of "light" is officially arriving in an unparalleled manner.
Veteran, return to the ranks!