America: My Time

Chapter 206 Akina's Dilemma

Chapter 206 Akina's Dilemma

After Ken-on finally managed to get rid of that damned greedy family, he had no choice but to call Akina over. They understood that such matters needed to be handled by the parties involved themselves, otherwise, they might end up pleasing neither side, ruining their reputation and attracting endless trouble, which was not an outcome they wanted to see.

“Akina, this is what your family thinks. They are determined to transfer your record contract from Warner to Universal Music. You understand the problems involved. The agency could have suppressed it or refused the request, but considering your situation, we can only tell you that the decision is yours. After all, this is a family matter, and we cannot interfere too much to avoid affecting your family relationship!”

"How could such a thing happen so suddenly? Was it intentional on the part of Universal Music, or is there some other reason?"

"This isn't a problem with Universal, but rather with Warner itself, or more accurately, with Vanguard. They're pushing everything. They intend to use this opportunity to resolve the feud between the two sides. You know a full-blown war is about to break out, and Vanguard wants to extricate themselves, so they chose you, persuading your family, and thus you became the sacrifice. As an agency, we don't want this to happen, and we have the ability to stop it, but now your family is forcing the agency to agree to this demand, so we have no choice but to leave the decision-making power to you! If you choose to refuse, the agency will absolutely stand on your side and protect you, ensuring you are not in danger!"

At this moment, Ken-on showed no mercy to this greedy family and directly stated her intentions, also informing Akina of her current situation that the choice she made was her own business and had nothing to do with the agency.

Faced with this sudden and shocking turn of events, Akina was utterly stunned. She had never imagined such a situation, that her family would do something like this behind her back, deciding her fate without her consent. This filled Akina with utter resentment; it was not something she wanted to see. Most importantly, after the agency's explanation, Akina understood that they were in a difficult position; her family had created a huge problem for them.

In order to resolve all the issues at once and alleviate her own pressure, Hanami Kagami no longer held back, revealing that the Nakamori family took a large sum of money from the agency every month. At this point, any further reservations would only harm Akina and make the situation unfavorable for Ken-on.

Hanami Hagaku doesn't believe that once the record contract is transferred to Universal, those bastards at Vanguard will give up. And even if they were willing to give up, Warner wouldn't. At that point, Akina would become the focus, a shield for both sides. Ken-On had worked so hard to cultivate such a top idol; why would they cut off their own arm?

Of course, the decision doesn't lie with Kenon, but with Akina. Faced with pressure from her family, can Akina hold on? And Hanami Kagami knows even better what the Nakamori family is thinking. Although he hasn't had in-depth conversations with this greedy family, with Hanami Kagami's intelligence, how could he not understand what they want to do?

There are countless examples of this in Japan. If Akina doesn't handle things carefully, she could easily get into huge trouble. Ken-on's move was also something Vanguard hadn't expected. It can only be said that they overestimated their influence. Although Vanguard is also a member of the conglomerate, it didn't intimidate Ken-on, because Ken-on couldn't afford to lose. Without Akina, a top idol, their situation would become even more difficult, especially since they might get caught up in this trouble once they got involved.

When he saw that Akina had not responded for a long time, Hanami said, "Go back and discuss it with your family. No matter what decision you make, the agency will stand by you and protect you. We will not let external forces affect you."

While the words sounded appealing, Hanami Kagami didn't believe Akina could withstand the pressure from that family of vampires. Ken-on's forced involvement was inevitable, as Ken-on lacked the strength to resist external pressure. However, choosing sides now also left him resentful; in a war between two giants, an agency like Ken-on caught in the middle could easily be wiped out!

If they had to choose sides, ØYO would naturally side with Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media. After all, ØYO had gained considerable benefits from Phoenix Media, and Universal Music wasn't entirely without capability. While perhaps slightly inferior to Warner Music, it was still one of the top record labels. Moreover, Phoenix Media and Legendary Entertainment possessed distribution channels that Warner Music lacked. Johnny's expansion in Japan was now fully underway, and he had established his own retail presence—something Warner Music didn't have. Furthermore, in terms of overall strength, Warner Music couldn't match Legendary Entertainment, or even Phoenix Media. Under these circumstances, ØYO naturally knew which option to choose.

Discussing it with her family was also stressful for Akina, who didn't know what to do. Although she hadn't been in the entertainment industry for long, Akina knew about its dark side and what her family was thinking. Was this sacrifice worth it?
At this moment, John was unaware that Vanguard had played another ruthless trick on him, and that more trouble was brewing. He was busy dealing with various matters in Japan. No matter how many schemes these guys had, as long as he didn't get involved, they couldn't do anything. The explosion of 'Weekly Bunshun' had affected Naoko. If Naoko hadn't already completed her idol transformation, her popularity would likely have plummeted.

However, when this situation arose, John also felt that it was time to take complete control of TV Tokyo. Moreover, it was clear that someone was plotting something and causing trouble. If he chose to make his move at this moment, no one in Japan would jump out to stop him. This was the best opportunity.

Now that his relationship with Naoko had been exposed, there was no need to hide it anymore. Soon, the shares of the toy company changed hands. The shares that were not originally under John's control were quickly taken over by Naoko and Hitomi Kuroki. In this way, there were no more hidden dangers in the entire TV Tokyo, and all the shares were under his control.

John's move immediately attracted the attention of some interested parties in Japan. Just as John had anticipated, although the Japanese were aware of this, no one dared to cause trouble. Even those Japanese individuals and companies that had consistently opposed John chose not to cause trouble at this time. They all knew how serious the consequences would be, and what the end result would be if the rules were broken. They could plot against John in secret, but they couldn't openly break the rules that had already been agreed upon. Those who challenge the rules never have a good ending.

Of course, nothing is absolute. There are some people in Japan who don't understand the deal and want to cause trouble, but they have been warned because doing so will not affect Phoenix Group or even John. If they want to, they can easily circumvent Japan's regulations.

Is it worth paying such a price to scheme against John and keep him in Japan? Some are reflecting on this, while others think it's perfectly fine because the person holding the shares is still Japanese, only now it's a woman close to John. Many also believe this might be more beneficial for Japan. Most of these people think of Setsuko Hara, the woman who once won over MacArthur, and therefore believe that Naoko and Hitomi Kuroki have the potential and opportunity to do the same.

What is the role of a beautiful PR person? Isn't it all for this moment? If they can use the power of a beautiful woman to win over a media mogul like John and make him have a good impression of Japan, isn't that the result they hope for?

For the Japanese companies and individuals who benefited from this outcome, it was naturally a welcome one. However, those who plotted against John were unwilling to see this happen, as it meant that their own interests were being harmed while their opponents' interests were expanding. They simply couldn't think of a way to stop it for the time being.

At this time, a storm was brewing in Hong Kong. When HSBC noticed John's actions and discovered that overseas funds were constantly pouring into Hong Kong, HSBC was under tremendous pressure. The increasing influx of funds made HSBC feel John's determination. Soon, Pacific Investment made a new move, pledging its US dollars to HSBC and Standard Chartered, and borrowing an equal amount of Hong Kong dollars to begin negotiating real estate acquisitions with Jardine Matheson, Hongkong Land, and Wheelock.

At this point, Pacific Investment Company acted very generously, not suppressing the assets held by Hongkong Land, Wheelock and Jardine Matheson, but instead seemed intent on acquiring them at a premium. This had a huge impact on Hongkong Land, Jardine Matheson and Wheelock. Although HSBC was involved, they were also tempted and some wanted to make a direct transaction.

When HSBC saw that Hongkong Land, Jardine Matheson, and Wheelock were wavering, it came up with a new idea to stop the deal. It believed that the deal was a bit of a loss now, and if it persisted for a while and negotiated with the other party repeatedly, it might be able to gain more. After all, Pacific Investment was now acting like it had a lot of money and didn't seem to care about the cost of the acquisition, which was an opportunity to raise the price.

Greed made these British guys impulsive, thinking that it was indeed possible to succeed. So, following HSBC's suggestion, they kept negotiating with Pacific Investment, trying to raise their own transaction price and tear a piece of fat off Pacific Investment!
(End of this chapter)