Chapter 342

After the Oscars, Arthur arrived at Monterey Bay on the "Black Pearl," the private yacht that had previously docked in the Mediterranean and had now returned to the U.S. West Coast.

After spending two days on the yacht with Winona Ryder, they then went to Carmel Ranch for vacation.

In the evening, in the small town of Carmel Valley, a car parked next to the tree-lined avenue, and Arthur took Winona Ryder into a local small bar.

Carmel Valley is just a tiny town with a very small population. Ever since Arthur bought the nearby Carmel estate, he also established a food processing plant in the town!

Now, the Carmel town's police department and town government have many connections with Arthur.

"Sir, your drink," the waiter brought Arthur his drink.

"Thank you," Arthur nodded, then raised his glass and clinked it with Winona Ryder's. "How have you been resting these past few days?"

"Well, pretty good. I saw that you're building a new warehouse at Carmel Ranch. It looks like the ranch business is doing well, isn't it?" Winona Ryder inquired.

Arthur shook his head. "I never pay attention to such small operations. There's even a new hotel being built on the ranch. In time, it will attract tourists for picnics, hiking, hunting, and so on. Little Women was filmed on location here!"

"By the way, Arthur, a few days ago, you seemed to have a phone call with Michael Jackson. How's his lawsuit going?"

Michael Jackson, uncertain whether he took Arthur's advice or not, still hadn't paid to settle with the Chandler family; instead, he continued to use litigation to express his stance.

Arthur chuckled. "Not so fast. Lawsuits like these surely take a long time to resolve."

After a while, Arthur received a call from the ranch saying two cattle rustlers had been caught.

"Let's go, Winona," Arthur said.

...

His Carmel Ranch, due to its expansion and acquisition of surrounding land resources, might be facing retaliation?

Back at the villa on the ranch, Arthur learned the whole story. Indeed, it was family members of those whose land was bought who had taken risky actions.

Not only did they steal cattle, but they also injured a few of the cows at Carmel Ranch, cutting their tongues!

"They had only verbally opposed before. Now such malicious behavior has happened. We've already got the town police to take them away," said the head of the ranch, dressed in cowboy attire, clearly a somewhat hot-tempered person.

Arthur smiled. "You had the police take them away just like that without teaching them a lesson?"

"Of course we did. We whipped the two rustlers several times, and Sheriff Wells said he would deal with it strictly," the ranch head explained.

"That's good," Arthur thought for a moment. "I should have followed your suggestion and set up a fence and barbed wire around the ranch bordering that area. Handle it quickly, and then find some time to go to the police station. This cattle rustling incident must be dealt with severely, or I worry that others might follow their example. As for those opposing the ranch's construction or using environmental protection as an excuse, cooperate with the town mayor to handle them!"

Arthur was practically the local king of Carmel Valley now, and someone dared to provoke him?

After the ranch manager left, Arthur was too lazy to worry about the matter anymore, as it was a trivial issue.

Arthur aimed to develop Carmel Ranch into a vacation ranch!

When Arthur returned to Los Angeles, it was already late March, almost Easter.

Galaxy's new movie The Mask was set to be released during the Easter period, and the leading stars Jim Carrey and Elizabeth Hurley were tirelessly promoting the film.

...

In Beverly Hills, at the villa of Los Angeles Lakers' chairman Jerry Buss, an important guest, billionaire Philip Anschutz, arrived.

"The Great Western Forum is indeed starting to lag behind the Lakers' pace. The venue is old, and many facilities are outdated," Jerry Buss clearly wanted a professional sports arena to serve as the Lakers' home court.

However, building a new large professional sports arena in Los Angeles was anything but easy.

Philip Anschutz nodded. "It is indeed very difficult and costly. Los Angeles Clippers' owner Arthur Smith is planning to build a new modern arena downtown. The initial investment alone has reached one hundred million dollars. Altogether, I estimate it won't be less than 300 million dollars!"

"300 million dollars?" Jerry Buss was truly powerless, considering the value of the Los Angeles Lakers was less than $500 million at that point.

The sale of a percentage of shares to Magic Johnson had cost $10 million.

"My idea is for the Lakers and the Clippers to share the future new arena. My AEG group would help fund Arthur," Philip Anschutz explained.

Jerry Buss chuckled. "The Lakers and the Clippers sharing one arena as their home court? Mr. Anschutz, it seems you don't quite understand Arthur Smith. There's no way Arthur would allow two teams from the same league to share one home court!"

Jerry Buss, having stayed in Los Angeles, knew Arthur Smith's personality well.

Philip Anschutz frowned. "AEG is very good at managing venues, and with my funding, we could start construction faster. The new arena would mainly serve the Clippers, and the Lakers would just be renting it. What's the problem with that?"

"Perhaps Anschutz could try," Jerry Buss thought, then smiled.

"Mr. Anschutz, if the Lakers could use a new arena in Los Angeles, I would sell 25% of the team's shares at market price."

"Of course, the Lakers would definitely sign a long-term lease with the new arena. Given the Lakers' current fame, it would significantly help promote the arena."

Whether it was Philip Anschutz or Jerry Buss, they both wanted a piece of Arthur's new downtown arena.

Jerry Buss had no seat at the table, so it was up to Philip Anschutz, the seasoned tycoon, to prove his capability.

Hearing Jerry Buss's words, Philip Anschutz also sensed the difficulty. After all, he was from Colorado, and Los Angeles was not his territory.

But Arthur Smith was different. He was the Golden Boy of Hollywood and the representative of local power in Los Angeles.

It wouldn't be easy for AEG to get involved. Philip Anschutz then thought of the Southern California real estate magnate Edward Roski Jr., with whom AEG had many collaborations...

*****

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