American Scandal King

Chapter 235 All the benefits in the world are yours
When he opened his eyes, Vincent saw a vast expanse of white.

Not far away was Ian Carr sitting there, looking at his computer with a smile on his face.

Am I in...the ward?

Vincent was stunned: "Are you dead? Mr. Karl?"

Ian Karl smiled and said, "No, you didn't die."

Vincent opened his mouth in surprise: "I'm not dead?"

He wanted to check on himself, but found that his whole body was in pain, he couldn't move, and his body was wrapped up like a dumpling.

The nurse hurriedly held him down: "Don't move. You're not dead, but you're not okay."

Vincent looked at Ian speechlessly: "How did I survive? I remember I was shot through the heart?"

Ian shrugged: "In fact, that didn't happen. It's just your illusion."

"Fuck!" Vincent was furious. "Does this mean I don't have that one million pension anymore?"

Ian also laughed when he heard this.

He looked up at Vincent and said, "You certainly don't have a million in pension, but you can get an 800,000 bonus for this interview. The reason we're not giving you more is because it wouldn't be appropriate to exceed your pension. Take good care of your injuries. You can still make money. Under normal circumstances, you still have a year or two to live. You can still do a lot. There's no need to rush into becoming a martyr."

Vincent was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.

I don’t want to die early either?
The nurse was very dissatisfied: "You are not suitable to get excited now, it will cause the wound to rupture."

Vincent smiled and said, "Money is the best medicine."

He turned to look at Ian and said, "How's our news?"

"It hasn't been released yet." Ian replied.

Vincent was stunned.

Not released yet?
How can it be?

This is not Ian's style!

Under normal circumstances, before the people in the theater had evacuated and the scene had been cleaned up, Ian's exclusive news had already appeared on the front pages of major media outlets.

Ian stood up and said, "Don't worry about this matter. Don't worry, I will take care of it."

He said a few words to comfort Vincent, left the ward and walked to the ward next to it.

Coming to the next ward, Ian saw Natasha lying there and Ekaterina was peeling an apple for her.

Several Russian officials stood next to the two beauties.

One of them was Plikin, who extended his hand enthusiastically to Ian: "Mr. Ian Carr, thank you very much for this time."

"You're welcome." Ian said indifferently.

A day had passed since the incident, and all the hostages, whether injured or not, were sent to the hospital. It was eventually confirmed that seven hostages were dead and thirty-seven were injured.

Compared with the death of more than one hundred hostages in the previous life, the casualties this time have been reduced to an extremely low level.

Moscow dealt with the aftermath as soon as possible, but the situation has not yet been released to the public. It only said that the problem has been resolved, but did not disclose the specific solution method or the casualties.

There's no other way, I have to deal with Ian Carr first.

Although Ian Karl didn't say anything, with Ekaterina and Natasha around, everyone actually understood what he was planning.

Therefore, before the formal conversation, the authorities had already conducted a round of internal consultations on this matter.

At this moment, Plikin said, "Mr. Karl, do you have time? I'd like to buy you a drink."

This is an appointment to talk about the place.

Ian shook his head: "Let's talk about it here."

Everyone is smart, and Pligin immediately understood that these two girls would also be one of the bargaining chips.

Very good, I like this!

As long as you, Ian, are willing, the Security Bureau is willing to give you a hundred swallows.

At this moment, everyone sat down around Natasha's bed.

Plikin said, "You've captured a lot of footage this time, but haven't released it yet. We appreciate that."

Ian filmed a lot of things, including interviews with Barayev and other militants, interviews with hostages, and records of the battles. The release of these contents has different meanings.

If Ian releases the video of Chechen militants, and through recording and describing their lives, lets the public know that they are also living people who are fighting for their ideals, the public will sympathize with them, and international public opinion will be affected.

On the other hand, if Ian had released the interviews with the hostages, the effect would have been completely different.

Humans are visual creatures, and their cognition is easily manipulated by the media. They only believe what they see, but rarely think about what they don't see.

So these two types of content represent different directions.

As for Ian's hunting video, it corresponds to the role played by the special forces. If the public knew that it was the forced invasion of the special forces that led to the failure of Ian Carl's hunting of terrorists, and ultimately resulted in the deaths of seven hostages and the injuries of 37 hostages, the doubts and disgust towards the Russian armed forces would also increase.

These things are deadly!
Fortunately, Ian was not released, which meant there was room for negotiation.

Sure enough, Ian smiled and said, "Then let's keep it simple, okay? Cut out all the formalities and red tape. I'll tell you what I want, and you decide whether you can satisfy it."

Pligin sighed, "Go ahead."

Ian said, "I need 10% of Gazprom's shares, but it won't be in my name. I will have other arrangements. I won't get involved in the company's management. I just want the money."

Sure enough, you just want money.

Plikin smiled and said, "That's a lot of money. How much are you going to pay for it?"

Ian shook his head. "I don't have that much cash, so I need the Russian State Bank to provide me with a loan at market price."

Pligin was even more speechless.

Just say you want it for free.

If you borrow money from the Russian State Bank to buy shares of Gazprom, you can make a lot of money by simply making the difference.

Gazprom is the world's largest natural gas producer and is controlled by the Russian Federal Service for Asset Management.

The company, ranked 500th on the Fortune Global 49 list, has an annual turnover exceeding 25 billion US dollars and a profit margin of around %, with profits reaching tens of billions each year.

Such a powerful company, which is also a state-owned enterprise, would never be controlled by Americans under normal circumstances.

But it's different now.

Although it seems that Ian is getting a great deal by using Russian money to buy shares of a Russian company, it also means that these shares are pledged, so you don’t have to worry about the outflow of shares, or foreigners controlling the company, or this state-owned enterprise being politically controlled by foreigners.

They are just here to make money, but they make a lot - 10% means billions of dollars a year. They are already full from the interest rate difference, so the price they are asking is too much!

Generally speaking, political goals outweigh money.

But when the amount of money reaches a certain level, it becomes politics itself.

Russia is also short of money and does not have the ability to give billions to Ian every year.

Pligin said helplessly: "This alone is far from enough."

If you ask for a high price, just pay it back!
Ian smiled and said, "Let me tell you what will happen next. First, if you reject my proposal, I will release all the interviews with Baraev and those Chechen militants. People will sympathize with them, and the idea of ​​putting the Chechen militants on the terrorist list will fail! Second, if you accept my suggestion, then these interviews will not be released, and I will help you thoroughly prove that they are Chechen terrorists. At the same time, Natasha and Ekaterina will become the heroes of this theater incident, beautiful heroes! And I can legitimately bring them to Hollywood and make them celebrities... I don't need to make myself an invincible god of war, because that means fewer people will cause trouble for me."

"What did you say?" Several Russian officials were stunned at the same time.

Ekaterina and Natasha were also shocked.

Ian nodded. "So many hostages saw the battle. They know they weren't rescued by the special forces. Forcing all the credit on the special forces will only lead to exposure and be disadvantageous. Just keep a portion of the credit. But Ekaterina and Natasha did participate in the rescue. Praising them is true, at most it's an exaggeration!"

Then Ian spread his hands and said, "I'm not taking money for nothing. I promised you that my company wouldn't spread rumors about you or slander you without reason, but it doesn't matter if I'm the only one. There are many media outlets in the United States, and everyone has their own voice. As an American, I can't sacrifice myself for you. But Ekaterina and Natasha can! Let them come with me, and I will make them celebrities in the United States."

"In the future, when your country needs someone to speak up for you, you don't have to worry about whether Ian Carr will do so for his own benefit."

"Because there are two existing Russian celebrities, as members of the Russian National Security Service, they can do it for you, even if it means sacrificing their own careers, but at least they can make the voices you want to be heard. I call it: self-destructive voice!"

Pligin looked at him in amazement.

And this kind of operation?

You speak for us and you don't have to pay any price?

And you took such a huge advantage, yet you can still confidently say, "This will make you trust me more?"

Although it makes sense, why do you feel that all the benefits in the world belong to you?

Instead, Seryosha's eyes lit up: "I think this is a great idea... I should have given you a few more beauties!"

Ian chuckled. "It's never too late, man, it's never too late!"

(End of this chapter)