My capital is quite large.

In July, Tokyo's air is filled with the unique humidity and heat of a Pacific island nation.

Outside the VIP lane of Narita International Airport, six black Toyota Alphard minivans, which had been chartered at great expense by Haofeng Network's overseas administration department, were parked neatly on the roadside.

As the car door opened, Li Feng led a top-notch team of over ten leading international M&A lawyers, translators, and financial experts out of the airport.

Walking half a step to Li Feng's side was Zhang Xinyu, dressed in a black Prada haute couture business suit and seven-centimeter red-soled high heels.

To be honest, this is the first time Zhang Xinyu has ever stepped out of the country in her life.

If it were Zhang Yan, the extra who was eating boxed lunches in a basement in Hengdian a little over a year ago, she would probably be too intimidated to know where to put her hands and feet now, facing the bustling and unfamiliar streets of Tokyo and the group of well-dressed multinational elites around her.

But Zhang Xinyu today has undergone a complete transformation.

Having followed Li Feng for more than half a year, she had become accustomed to the battles involving hundreds of millions of yuan and the obsequiousness of top celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry in front of her.

The confidence nurtured by top-tier capital and power over time made her stand ramrod straight at this moment.

Her cool, alluring eyes were hidden behind sunglasses as she calmly arranged the seating of the motorcade and the hotel itinerary. Every gesture she made exuded the air of a top-tier tycoon's secretary who was used to grand occasions.

Li Feng looked at her impeccable demeanor, satisfied, and withdrew his gaze, then sat in the back seat of the lead car.

"Boss, shall we go back to the Peninsula Hotel to rest and adjust to the time difference, or..." Zhang Xinyu handed over a bottle of chilled Evian mineral water and asked softly.

"What time difference? Tokyo is only one hour behind China."

Li Feng unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, his eyes revealing the excitement of an impending hunt. "Go straight to Chiyoda Ward, to the Shueisha headquarters."

……

Shueisha Building, Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo.

As the largest comprehensive manga publisher in Japan and even the world, Shueisha's heritage and pride are ingrained in its very being.

In the president's reception room on the top floor, several senior executives and directors in charge of overseas copyright business were kneeling on tatami mats, sipping authentic matcha while sizing up the large group of Chinese people who had come to their door.

The head of the copyright department is named Sato, a typical stereotypical Japanese executive.

"President Li, you are very welcome to Tokyo."

Through the translator, Sato, though wearing a professional smile, spoke with an air of condescending arrogance and perfunctoriness: "However, regarding your proposal to buy out the exclusive online broadcasting rights for the three major flagship anime series, 'Naruto,' 'One Piece,' and 'Bleach,' in the Greater China region... Shueisha and TV Tokyo actually have some reservations."

Sato put down his teacup, sighed, and bluntly exposed the current situation:

"To be honest, your country's internet market... is practically a copyright wasteland in the eyes of us Japanese copyright holders."

"On the Chinese internet today, there are pirated videos and BT download torrents that have been privately translated by subtitle groups everywhere. Even if our animation is officially licensed, we won't receive a single penny in membership fees or on-demand fees in your country."

Sato spoke these words with absolute confidence.

In 2009, Japanese copyright holders held the stereotype that the Chinese mainland market was rife with piracy, lacked a sound legal system, and was unprofitable. Therefore, they preferred to let their copyrights rot rather than bother with dealing with the chaotic Chinese video websites.

Seeing Sato's expression that said "there's no profit to be made in China," Li Feng was not angry at all; in fact, he almost laughed out loud.

That's exactly the kind of deep-seated stereotypes you're looking for!

If you already knew how terrifyingly lucrative the Chinese ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) market would be in the future, how would I possibly buy in at rock-bottom prices?!

"Mr. Sato is right. Piracy is indeed rampant on the Chinese Internet at present."

"So what I brought today is not a profit-sharing agreement, but a buyout in cash."

Li Feng snapped his fingers, and Zhang Xinyu pulled out several thick contracts in both English and Japanese from her briefcase and pushed them in front of Sato.

"The three major shonen manga, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach, plus twenty other top-tier anime such as Gintama and Katekyo Hitman Reborn!"

"I'm offering $15 million for the exclusive online video streaming rights in Greater China for the next 15 years!"

"Furthermore, I'll add another ten million dollars!"

Li Feng's gaze was fixed on Sato like a hawk's. "I want to buy out the exclusive game adaptation rights for these twenty anime IPs in Greater China!"

"A total of twenty-five million US dollars in cash will be transferred to Shueisha's corporate account through a Swiss bank within twenty-four hours, once the agreement is signed!"

boom!

Twenty-five million US dollars?! (That's approximately 2.3 billion yen!)

Sato, who had just been maintaining a composed demeanor, almost dropped his teacup when he heard the number and saw the Citibank proof of funds, spilling matcha all over his crotch!

The entire reception room fell into a deathly silence. The Japanese executives looked at each other, all of them stunned by the sheer amount of money they had been showered with!

Twenty-five million US dollars! To buy the Chinese rights to a game they see as unprofitable?!

This isn't a business negotiation; this is a living bodhisattva delivering money!

However, although the Japanese are old-fashioned, they are not stupid.

Sato suppressed his overwhelming joy and glanced warily at Li Feng's business card.

"Haofeng Network...?!"

When Sato saw the English heading on the business card, his pupils contracted sharply, and he gasped for breath!

Although he didn't know much about Chinese video websites, he definitely knew this company!

"You...you're the president of that world-class mobile game company that developed Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja?!"

No wonder he can casually throw out 25 million US dollars in cash!

At this point in time, Haofeng Network's legendary ability to rake in huge sums of money daily on the overseas Apple App Store had already spread throughout the global internet and gaming communities.

The Japanese were well aware of just how terrifying the financial resources of this rising Chinese giant were!

Sato's doubts about the source of funding were now completely dispelled.

"No wonder President Li wanted to buy out the game adaptation rights..." Sato thought to himself.

In their view, apart from those poorly made web games, the Chinese game market can't produce any decent masterpieces.

Even if you sell the game adaptation rights for "Naruto" and "One Piece" to Haofeng Network, at most they'll just make a few casual mobile games like "Angry Birds" to scam some money.

For a market like Japan, where console and handheld games are extremely developed, they simply looked down on China's mobile game development capabilities at that time.

"A market rife with piracy, traded for 2.3 billion yen in net profit..."

To the executives at Shueisha and TV Tokyo, this deal was like a windfall! These Chinese were indeed as rumored—foolish and rich!

"President Li! We appreciate your sincerity!"

Sato, no longer displaying his previous arrogance, stood up and gave a deep, impassioned 90-degree bow. "Shueisha and TV Tokyo fully agree to your buyout plan! We can have the legal department process the paperwork today!"

……

Having taken down Shueisha, the biggest nut to crack, the rest of the journey was a complete and utter victory.

Li Feng and his team embarked on a frenzied "money-spending spree" among the major copyright holders in Tokyo.

He knows all too well the nature of Japanese anime copyright issues.

Fortunately, Japanese anime adopts a "production committee" system, and the major copyrights are basically concentrated in the hands of a few absolute giants such as Shueisha, Kodansha, Kadokawa Shoten, and Aniplex.

This saved Li Feng the trouble of negotiating with each of the original authors individually.

The next morning, at the headquarters of Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.

Li Feng sat at the conference table and tossed a long list of acquisitions to the other party's representative.

This not only contains the usual popular anime series, but also includes a seemingly insignificant ultimate nuclear weapon that will make countless anime fans spend money until they go bankrupt in the future!

"In addition to these regular anime series, I also want to exclusively acquire all the online streaming rights for a series called 'Fate/stay night,' as well as the game adaptation rights for all genres in Greater China."

Fate!

In Japan in 2009, although the Fate series had already gained some fame among otaku, it was a text-based adventure game derived from Type-Moon.

However, in the mainstream commercial market, it has not yet evolved into the super money-making behemoth that it would later become, capable of raking in billions of dollars a year with just one mobile game, "Fate/Grand Order"!

The person in charge at Aniplex glanced at the list and felt somewhat baffled.

A relatively niche late-night fantasy animation, and this Chinese tycoon has specifically requested to buy its game adaptation rights?

"No problem, President Li. Since you've offered such a generous price, we'll consider the license for the Fate series a bonus and sell it to you as part of the package." The Aniplex representative beamed and readily agreed.

……

In just forty-eight hours.

In just two days, Li Feng used a staggering sum of over 40 million US dollars in cash to acquire almost every well-known or soon-to-be-hit anime IP in the Japanese market, securing their exclusive video streaming rights and game adaptation rights for Greater China and locking them away in Haofeng Network's safe!

The contracts were finalized that very night.

To celebrate this windfall, executives from several major conglomerates, including Shueisha and Aniplex, jointly hosted an extremely lavish thank-you dinner for Li Feng at one of Tokyo's most prestigious kaiseki restaurants.

At the banquet, several Japanese executives, their faces flushed, took turns raising their sake to toast and bow to Li Feng.

In their minds, Li Feng was nothing more than a spendthrift.

"These Chinese people, with the US dollars they earned in Europe and America, come here to buy a bunch of data that they can't even prevent from being pirated in their own countries. What a bunch of nouveau riche who don't understand the market!" President Sato sneered inwardly, but his face was beaming with a smile brighter than a blooming chrysanthemum.

Li Feng, seated at the head of the table, held an exquisite sake cup and looked at the group of self-important Japanese executives before him, a cold smile creeping across his face.

I glanced at the authorization contracts stamped with official seals in Zhang Xinyu's briefcase next to me.

Only he knew that what was inside was not waste paper, but an absolute ticket to the Chinese ACG market, worth hundreds of billions of RMB, over the next ten years!

In a few years, when the wave of legalization hits China, and gacha behemoths like "Naruto" mobile game and "Fate/Grand Order" are flooding the market with in-game currency...

Those Japanese people who are laughing like idiots today are probably regretting it to the core, and might even line up to jump off the Shueisha building!

"President Li, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you! You are truly a generous and great entrepreneur!" President Sato raised his glass again.

"It's a pleasure working with you."

Li Feng clinked glasses, downed the sake in one gulp, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

"I hope that five years from now, you will still be laughing this happily."