Chapter 365: I Can't Be Like You

[Chapter 365: I Can't Be Like You]

Eric had originally intended to take Murdoch to the living room. However, once the old man entered, he voluntarily suggested checking out Eric's study instead. Eric readily agreed, thinking if Murdoch wanted to downgrade himself to play the role of a corporate spy, so be it -- after all, even in a study, the most important things were usually kept in a safe.

When Jennifer Connelly entered the study carrying a coffee pot, she noticed a man around sixty, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the storyboards plastered on the wall and occasionally exclaiming in admiration.

Quietly, the young woman set down the coffee pot on the coffee table and walked quietly over to Eric's side.

"Eric, this part is the storyboard for Jurassic Park, right?" Murdoch suddenly pointed to a section on the wall and asked.

"Yeah, these are just preliminary ideas," Eric replied nonchalantly.

Standing beside her father, Elisabeth huffed in dissatisfaction, "Maybe he has even finished the script."

Eric shrugged, giving her a "whatever you say" look. This only made Elisabeth more smug, but Murdoch seemed to ignore the banter between his daughter and Eric, continuing to point at several disaster movie storyboards, asking, "And what about these?"

Eric had no intention of explaining the details to Murdoch like he would have to Cameron. He simply replied, "That's a different series."

"Tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, endless ice, asteriods... If these scenes can be perfectly portrayed on the big screen, the impact would surely rival that of Star Wars," Murdoch said, genuinely impressed. Eric's substantial investments in digital effects weren't a secret in the industry. Before seeing these drafts, Murdoch had wondered if Eric was simply behaving recklessly with his money, but upon witnessing Eric's grand plans firsthand, the old man quickly realized that Eric wasn't losing his mind at all; rather, he was playing a much bigger game.

"It definitely can't compare to Star Wars; that franchise is hard to replicate," Eric said honestly. He wasn't being modest; Star Wars had become a cultural phenomenon with immeasurable ancillary value.

Although the planned Jurassic Park series and the disaster film series would certainly create a tremendous sensation, surpassing the impact of Star Wars seemed unrealistic. Of course, if it was just about the box office, they still had a fighting chance.

After taking another look, Murdoch settled on the sofa in the corner. Connelly felt that the study wasn't the place for her and quietly poured coffee for the three of them by the table. She then said softly to Eric, "Eric, I'll step outside for a bit."

Eric nodded, casting a glance at Elisabeth, who was sitting next to Murdoch. "Liz, we've had quite a few scripts sent over these days, and we haven't finalized the next film yet. You could go through some with Jenny."

Seeing that Eric wanted to kick her and his little pet project out, Elisabeth raised an eyebrow in annoyance and glared at Eric. "Why can't I pick one out here?"

Eric casually replied, "You couldn't handle the projects here."

Feeling slighted, Elisabeth became even angrier and was ready to retort when she caught her father's eye. He made a subtle gesture, and she huffed a couple of times but didn't throw a fit. As she stood up and was about to leave, she noticed Connelly standing up alongside Eric. With a sly grin, she took a few steps forward and affectionately linked arms with Connelly, "Miss Connelly, you look stunning! Wow, you smell incredible; what perfume are you wearing?"

Connelly glanced at Eric as Elisabeth tugged her along outside. Hearing Elisabeth's question, she quickly replied, "Thank you, Miss Murdoch. It's Chanel... ah!"

While Connelly was speaking, she suddenly felt a small hand grab her butt, causing her to exclaim in surprise as she looked incredulously at Elisabeth.

Since Eric was seated facing the entrance, he had a clear view of the entire incident where Elisabeth turned into a little rascal, reaching out for Connelly. Afterward, the girl even turned to look at him, as if to show off. Eric couldn't help but twitch his mouth -- was this some kind of a joke? Was it appropriate for this girl to act this way?

Murdoch followed Eric's astonished gaze but only saw his daughter and Connelly heading up the stairs. "Eric, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing," Eric shook his head, taking a sip of coffee to calm his surprise.

...

After the two women left, the two men leisurely sipped their coffee, chatting about the weather in L.A. Murdoch then cautiously broached the topic, "Eric, I heard you're raising funds recently?"

"That's right, because I need to get some things done," Eric responded, quickly considering Murdoch's intentions.

The less than two hundred million dollars pulled from Firefly and a few other companies certainly wouldn't satisfy Eric; even leveraged 10 times, it would only amount to two billion dollars, which wouldn't meet Eric's expectations for profit. He needed more chips on the table.

Therefore, during this time, Eric had been doing everything possible to gather more funds. His credit cards were all maxed out, and he even dipped into the small stashes of Virginia and Nicole.

Initially, borrowing from a bank was the best option, but acquiring a significant sum from them could take at least a month due to various procedures. By then, it would already be August, with the Kuwait War breaking out. Getting money to invest would be too late.

Eric's trading in crude oil futures wasn't exactly a secret, and with Murdoch's connections, learning the details would be a piece of cake. Although he wasn't sure what was driving this young guy to act strangely, Murdoch could tell Eric was engaged in a big gamble.

Everyone knew that one lost nine times out of ten. Even though Eric had achieved astounding success in Hollywood in just a couple of years, Murdoch surely didn't believe he could replicate the same miracle on Wall Street, thus he sensed an excellent opportunity.

Before stepping into the room, Murdoch had initially planned to lend Eric some money. If Eric lost that money trading oil futures, Murdoch could rightfully propose to buy back those 10% shares of Fox Television. Although Eric hadn't involved himself in Fox Television matters before, those 10% shares had been like a thorn in Murdoch's side.

But after seeing Eric's massive plans regarding a few blockbuster effects films, Murdoch quickly changed his strategy. Compared to getting back the television shares, entering into a deal with Firefly would be obviously a much better business move.

"Eric, if you need funds, Fox can lend you part of it."

"And the conditions?" Murdoch got straight to the point, and Eric didn't beat around the bush either; he set down his coffee cup and asked seriously.

Murdoch relaxed back into the couch, smiling as he said, "That will depend on your sincerity."

"How much can Fox offer? I mean, at most, within ten days?"

"Ten days?" Murdoch straightened up. "Eric, that's too short."

Eric replied, "Mr. Murdoch, if I had enough time, I'd just go to the bank for a loan. With my current assets, I think any bank would happily lend me hundreds of millions."

Murdoch squinted as he assessed Eric for a moment, seemingly trying to find some useful information on his face, but the old fox was soon disappointed.

"Alright, I'll make a phone call," Murdoch said as he stood.

Eric pointed towards the desk. "Go right ahead."

Murdoch walked over to the desk phone and dialed a few numbers, openly discussing with the other end without concealing his intentions. Eric listened in, noting that Murdoch was likely checking on the financial situation with News Corp.

Once back on the couch, Murdoch turned to Eric and said, "I can give you 80 million within ten days."

Noticing the disdain on Eric's face, Murdoch felt a mix of annoyance and helplessness. "I know you gathered nearly 200 million earlier, but News Corp isn't just mine. I can't just pull all the cash like you."

*****

https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.