Chapter 18 Risks and Opportunities

"Hello."

Unlike the previous individuals, Kara Farris simply offered a polite smile, gesturing towards Murphy beside her as she politely declined, "Sorry, I'm here to discuss something with my friend and we need a quiet space."

The tall black man was also polite, "May I know your name?"

Seeming a bit impatient as if she didn't recognize this well-known figure in the Los Angeles area, Kara flashed a hint of annoyance but still responded, "Kara Farris."

The black man wanted to say something more, but Kara turned to Murphy and said, "Darling, let's have two sodas."

Murphy waved to the waiter standing by the beach, and when he approached, said, "Two sodas, please."

After placing the order, he pulled out a chair and gestured for Kara to sit down. Once she was seated, he took the chair opposite her.

The man didn't leave, seeming unwilling to give up.

Kara was in her prime, tall and sexy, and dressed to impress, undoubtedly attracting the attention of any normal man.

In many people's minds, a beautiful stranger appearing in such a setting usually had ulterior motives.

Compared to the man, Kara, like Murphy, was undoubtedly an ordinary person.

"Hello, Miss Kara Farris." The black man took the initiative to extend his hand, "I'm Kobe Bryant."

Kara politely shook his hand, "Hello, Mr. Bryant."

She didn't show any particular reaction.

The kobe seemed a bit embarrassed and turned to Murphy, "Hello..."

Murphy extended his hand, "Hello, I'm Murphy Stanton."

"Let's chat another time." Kobe was not stupid, understanding the situation he takes his leave, "I have friends waiting for me."

"Goodbye." Murphy waved to him.

Seeing the black man leave, Kara looked at Murphy with a hint of curiosity, "He's a hero in this city, yet you seem unimpressed."

"Darling, I can't even understand the rules of basketball..." Murphy shrugged, "Why would I be interested in a basketball star?"

As a basketball layman, he only knew there was a superstar named Kobe Bryant, but being able to remember his name without knowing anything else about basketball showed how terrifying Bryant's influence was globally.

"What about you? It's obvious he's interested in you." Murphy turned the question back to Kara, "Why are you so indifferent? He's Kobe Bryant!"

Raising her soda, Kara took a sip and looked up at the starry night sky, giving a strong reason, "I cover social and current affairs, not sports."

"I'm not talking about work." Murphy raised an eyebrow, "Don't you think he'd make a good companion?"

Kara lowered her gaze, glancing at him, "Kobe Bryant is engaged, what do you think he's after?"

The answer was obvious; in situations like this, whether in sports or entertainment circles, when stars actively approach attractive women at events, their intentions are usually clear.

Murphy didn't find this surprising; stars around the world were all pretty much the same, regardless of gender.

Taking a sip of soda, he changed the subject, "Remember when I mentioned those two black men and the victim possibly being drug dealers? It's a news story worth exploring."

Kara looked at him strangely, "You're actually giving me a news story instead of selling it to me."

Murphy put on a sincere expression, "We're good friends, we should help each other."

"Help each other?" Kara rolled her eyes, "I won't say thank you because I don't plan to report on this kind of news in the short term."

"Why?" Murphy couldn't help but ask.

"It would undermine the impact of the Bill Road case."

After organizing her thoughts, Kara said seriously, "The continuous protests by black people are simply because the last suspect was shot by a white police officer when he was unable to resist. But if the two black men turn out to be drug dealers, and the case becomes a drug dealer's internal conflict, it will quickly quell the lively movement that is going on in the Los Angeles area."

Facing Murphy, she didn't hide anything, "We need ongoing sensational news, not a calm and safe society."

Murphy nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Kara's reasoning, "We're not government agencies, and once the black lives movement calms down, it will also have a negative impact on the documentary."

A city filled with violence, injustice, drugs, crime, and racial discrimination was the theme of the documentary.

Such a documentary required a chaotic social situation to complement it.

However, the chaos brought about by the movement in Los Angeles had little effect on such high-end parties; they were always places of debauchery, where well-dressed men flirted with beautiful, sexy women, and glamorous women seduced well-known men. There were even some gentlemen and ladies with prominent reputations who gathered to enjoy marijuana and ecstasy.

Sex, alcohol, drugs, and chaotic relationships were always the timeless themes of such parties.

Of course, there were many self-disciplined people at the party.

At least Murphy could see that many, like him and Kara, simply saw the party as a networking opportunity and wouldn't go near anything that could ruin their prospects.

Murphy knew how to navigate such situations and knew it wasn't the time to indulge.

Now, he should strive and work hard rather than stop his progress because of these inexplicable things.

At the party, Murphy and Kara met many people and exchanged business cards with several of them. Although there were no big shots among them, social circles were built step by step.

As the night wore on, the party showed no signs of winding down, but Murphy and Kara were ready to leave. They had their own work to attend to the next day and couldn't spend the whole night at such a debauched event. As they walked towards Kara's Audi parked by the beach, Murphy suddenly called out to Kara.

"Look over there." Murphy gestured with his eyes to the left about fifty feet away, where a man was walking with a beautiful woman along the roadside, "Isn't that the basketball star who was interested in pursuing you?"

The man was Kobe Bryant, whom Murphy had seen before, and he was walking with a young, sexy redhead who seemed very close to him.

Murphy's eyes suddenly lit up, "Is that Kobe Bryant's fiancée?"

Kara looked up for a moment, shaking her head, "I don't think so. I remember the media reported that Kobe Bryant's fiancée is Latina, and this redhead clearly isn't Latina."

As they watched the two people walking together, Murphy suddenly remembered something. He vaguely recalled that this basketball superstar had been involved in scandalous affairs before, which had caused quite a stir. He and the redhead leaving the party together probably weren't just chatting, right?

His experience as a freelance journalist over the past month had sharpened some of Murphy's abilities, instantly awakening his professional instincts.

Seeing the two people approaching a Hummer parked nearby, Murphy turned to Kara, who was about to get into the driver's seat, and said, "Can I borrow your car temporarily, darling?"

Kara paused for a moment, then understood, furrowing

her brow slightly, "Are you planning to follow them?"

Murphy didn't say anything, just shrugged.

After considering for less than two seconds, Kara closed the driver's side door, "I'll catch a ride with someone else. There's my Nikon D1 digital camera and telephoto lens in the trunk."

"Thank you." Murphy turned and walked towards the driver's side, "You've solved a big problem for me."

Originally, he had planned to buy a telephoto camera on the spot.

It wasn't surprising that Kara's car had camera equipment; she was a dedicated journalist, so having these tools in the car was normal.

"Murphy, he's not an ordinary person. Some things you can do with ordinary criminals," seeing Murphy open the car door, Kara reminded him, "You have to be careful and cautious with him."

Murphy nodded solemnly, "I'm not crazy, I know what to do."

Even if he could capture something, Murphy wouldn't directly sell it to a tabloid. When dealing with a superstar of Kobe Bryant's caliber, there were certain things that absolutely couldn't be done recklessly.

People who thought they could do anything without consequences were easily crushed in their ascent.

Murphy lacked funds, and the dollars in his hand were just a drop in the ocean compared to the bottomless pit of making a movie. He needed avenues to make money, and he had done enough crazy things in the past month to accumulate some capital, but he had only dealt with relatively ordinary people, not a superstar like this.

As someone who had come from an era of highly developed internet, Murphy knew that Kobe Bryant didn't represent just himself but a slew of forces from economic companies to team affiliations to advertising sponsors. If he truly crossed their bottom line, these forces could easily crush a nobody like him who was quietly trying to make his way up.

Yes, there was great risk in following them, but Murphy still had to do it because opportunities like this were as rare as the last one, and there were also ways to handle this within the boundaries of not offending the other party.

For the sake of accumulating primitive capital, such risks were worth a try.

Sitting in the driver's seat, buckling up, Murphy saw Kara, who had been watching him the whole time, give him a thumbs up. As the Hummer in front started up and left, Murphy also started the Audi and followed behind.

With the experience from last time, Murphy followed the Hummer neither too close nor too far away, even though the other car purposely made a few loops, as if trying to shake off a possible tail, he still managed to stick to it.