King of the Wilderness

Chapter 481: Chapter 268: Deeply Entwined Interests (Part 3)

"By then, when you recall this phone call you personally hung up tonight, what will it become?"

On the other end of the phone, there was dead silence. Scooter could even hear his own intense heartbeat.

"It will become a thorn, a thorn stuck in your heart." Lin Yu’an’s voice was like the whisper of a devil, "It will repeatedly torment you on countless nights in the future, and you will wonder what if I had believed it then? How much of that wealth that should have been mine?"

"Scooter, professional caution can help you avoid risks, but sometimes, it can also make you miss out on wealth that should have belonged to you!"

These words completely shattered all of Scooter’s psychological defenses. His pride in professionalism, rationality, and caution crumbled in front of the regretful future painted by Lin Yu’an, seeming so fragile and laughable.

His palm holding the phone was sweating coldly. He knew that Lin Yu’an was right. Whether he bets tonight or not, this call had already planted an unremovable seed in his heart.

He had been dragged into this gamble, whether on the poker table or in his own mind.

"What do you want from me?" Scooter’s voice became hoarse and dry, he abandoned all disguises and asked the most core question.

Lin Yu’an knew the fish had taken the bait.

"I want nothing." His tone returned to its initial calm, "I told you, this is merely a sincere suggestion between friends. Because I believe that our future collaboration will far surpass a mere broker contract, that’s all."

"But please remember, make sure to leave on January 26, take your winnings and leave; don’t linger at a party that is about to end when the revelry reaches its peak."

After speaking, Lin Yu’an hung up immediately with a snap.

Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Scooter Braun could no longer remain calm. He put down the phone, pacing irritably in the office, Lin Yu’an’s suggestion echoed like a magic spell in his mind.

Everything was chaotic. Rationality was screaming warnings that this was a scam, rationality told him this was a complete scam!

But intuition, the kind that led him to discover Justin Bieber and sign Ariana Grande, that business intuition was frantically alarming him! Powerful intuition made him feel Lin Yu’an was telling the truth!

China, Russia, sanctioned oligarchs, scions of the red families... these wild thoughts mixed with his fear of Melvin Capital.

But after a moment, all these chaotic thoughts were crushed completely by Lin Yu’an’s last piercing words, "It will become a thorn."

Yes, a thorn.

If Lin Yu’an was right, the power behind this was enough to obliterate Melvin Capital. And if he missed it... he would miss a chance to profit massively!

Now he no longer needed to analyze the truth of the message, for Lin Yu’an had already placed the outcome of the choice bloodily before him, either bear limited financial risk, or endure unlimited psychological torment.

As one who always pursues opportunities, he can never tolerate the latter!

Lin Yu’an, that damn Alaskan savage, he wasn’t giving advice, he was using overt schemes to hijack! Using the future to hijack the present, using greed to hijack rationality!

Finally, he took a deep breath, his eyes filled with the frantic determination of a gambler. He opened his private trading software, looking at GME, which was still hovering around 20 dollars, took a deep breath, and entered a number he could accept losing.

"Buy in, 5 million dollars."

After hanging up Scooter’s phone, Lin Yu’an didn’t rest, immediately dialing the next number, CAA co-chairman Brian Lord.

The call connected, but there was no immediate sound from the other end, only a pressing silence, as if waiting for Lin Yu’an to speak first.

Lin Yu’an didn’t repeat the rhetoric used with Scooter, he knew he had to be more direct and frank with someone like Brian.

"Brian, it’s me, Lin." He went straight to the point, "I’m calling to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Brian’s voice carried a trace of playfulness for the first time, "Let’s hear it."

"GME will experience an epic short squeeze within three weeks." Lin Yu’an’s tone was like stating a predetermined fact.

"I can provide CAA with precise entry and exit timing. In return, I need one thing."

"What thing?"

"A decent jungle plane." Lin Yu’an said lightly, "I trust CAA’s taste with the model and configuration. It will appear on Wiseman’s runway as CAA’s signing gift to me."

The other end fell into a long silence.

This request, neither too big nor too small, a top-tier jungle plane valued at hundreds of thousands to millions of US dollars, but to CAA, it was a mere drop in the bucket. Yet, the posture of this request was extremely provocative.

Lin Yu’an wasn’t asking, he was like extorting a gift worth tens of thousands of dollars with a piece of possibly false intelligence.

Brian didn’t ask about the source of the information like Scooter did. For someone like him, the source was irrelevant, the crucial point is the risk-reward ratio of this deal.

He finally spoke, his voice calm yet carried the pressure of a superior: "Lin, you’re gambling a substantial signing fee on a near-bankrupt stock. This is indeed your freedom."

"But you seem to forget, CAA invests something far more valuable than money, intangible assets, CAA’s reputation, platform, and top-tier resources."

He paused, his tone turning icy: "If the gamble fails and you go bankrupt, it implies for CAA that the future legend we signed has turned into an investment scandal requiring urgent PR handling."

"According to the contract, we certainly have the right to have you attend various events to compensate for this loss. You’re correct, your person is still under contract control. Tokyo’s variety clown remains a possible option."

This was a higher-level warning, elevating Lin Yu’an’s personal actions to a height that damages CAA’s overall interests, using reputation to morally and commercially bind him.

Facing this pressure, Lin Yu’an unusually remained silent for a moment, then asked with an extremely serious tone: "Brian, do you believe in mathematics?"

This completely unrelated question staggered Brian’s rhythm.

"What do you mean?"