America 1982-Chapter 570 - 121: Before the Battle_2

The newsroom finally understood that the two had been quietly dating for a while. During that time, Annie would give her completed reports to Murdoch for help with revisions on their dates, with Murdoch silently wracking his brain to help her tweak the valueless words in the eyes of the editor-in-chief, into real headline news, all without altering the core message of the text. The result was that Annie continued to believe those awards were earned through her own capabilities.

Looking at Tommy right now, this bastard nearly copied Murdoch’s playbook to the letter, even his girlfriend Odelia shares common traits with Annie—blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned, and innocently believing that her hard work could change the world. Odelia, who previously worked as an assistant in a small city’s inspector’s office, threw herself into the grand philanthropic endeavors of KeyBank after getting involved with Tommy, reaping various domestic and international humanitarian awards. She truly felt she’d helped and changed countless lives, so she attended those award ceremonies with the same entitlement as Murdoch’s wife, Annie Tova.

Beyond their taste in spouses, their business tactics were eerily similar as well, both liked to sway public opinion and were accustomed to standing on the side of the masses. Tommy’s first foray into the computer industry was heralded as a campaign against Lotus Corporation, claiming to bring free OSS software to America’s underprivileged, propelling technological equality and earning him support from countless American poor, who dubbed him ’Robin Hood Tommy’ and ’Righteous Tommy’.

Whereas Murdoch, in making his stand in England, proclaimed his tabloid, News of the World, which specialized in vulgar scandals, more sophisticated than British politicians. They criticized my newspaper because I exposed them to sunlight. The newspapers they want are those that the ordinary people wouldn’t read. The newspaper I want is one that everyone wants to read, but only the subjects wouldn’t want to flip through. Many lower-class English live very hard, miserable lives, buying a newspaper to learn the secrets of the rich and powerful, reveling in their embarrassments, offers them a cheap form of schadenfreude within their dire circumstances.

Murdoch’s strategies significantly boosted newspaper sales, and with regular political scandal exposés in his paper, he won a nickname among the British lower class: the political cleaner.

When it came to expansion after their initial success, both employed identical tactics. When attempting to buy into a company, they would humbly insist they had no intentions of seeking control or interfering in day-to-day management, only to enjoy the dividends. Yet, the moment they secured the shares, they turned ruthless.

The only difference might be Murdoch’s penchant for gambling, in both his hobbies and his business dealings, which were tinged with a strong gambling spirit. Tommy, however, was accustomed to pondering all possible problems alone before truly embarking on a task, ensuring he had solutions for every conceivable scenario before entering the fray.

This was something Sophia had realized during a casual chat with Jim when he had taken over handling KeyBank’s business. At a dinner party, Sophia spoke to him about Tommy’s lawsuit against Lotus from days past, mentioning that before Lotus had even sent their legal notice, Tommy had locked himself in the library, researching American copyright laws and leveraging SSD’s influence in universities nationwide, to organize various women’s rights campus groups, preparing over a hundred amicus curiae to take the stand.

Every time Jim Manzi reflected on the memory that Sophia had shared with him in a light-hearted manner, he couldn’t manage to relax as she had; instead feeling a chill in his spine, knowing that at just eighteen years old, that bastard Tommy had already meticulously prepared a plot to bury Lotus Corporation in court before he had seen the founders’ faces or received any legal notices.

Therefore, including Jason and even Martin, everyone initially had their reservations when Tommy set his sights on doing something to Fox, expressing a wish for Tommy to consider his actions carefully. Jim, from the very beginning, never thought to dissuade Tommy; this man who would never trust anyone fully was already perfecting his plan to devour Lotus at eighteen. Jim didn’t believe this rational madman was unworthy of taking on Murdoch, who only unified Australia’s newspapers, television stations, and radio to build his media empire at the age of thirty-six.

But in Jim’s own judgment and reasoning, following Tommy’s insane approach, by the time this lunatic was thirty-six, he might become the eyes, mouth, and ears for most citizens of the United States—the most powerful country on Earth.

What they wanted to see, hear, and say would require Tommy’s approval. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Tommy finished a cigarette, downed his beer, crushed the butt in the ashtray, and got up to head towards the shower, "Behind Stephen, there are shareholders who hold assets in seventeen banks, having short-term loans with Murdoch Group. I think the storm I’ve caused has potential rewards enough to make them refuse to help Murdoch convert to long-term loans. I’ll try not to let you and Benjamin use the other hidden connections of KeyBank, but if the other side could find my weak point during sex, just like Odelia did, making me crave for death or immortality..."

"I think Murdoch had better pray not to resist too fiercely in your bed, leading the investigation my way. After all, this is deep waters here. Not just swimmers but professional divers might drown, and what’s scarier is, an enraged sea monster might chase into the shallows or even come ashore to slaughter humans," Jim yawned, saying lazily, "Goodbye, that’s it, I won’t take you to the airport."

Tommy turned on the shower, washing himself while sticking his head out to ask Jim, "Jim, have you seen my driver and bodyguard Martin?"

"The black guy, I remember him," Jim said perfunctorily.

Tommy wiped water from his face, put on a radiant and even ingratiating smile, and said to Jim, "Those friends of yours among politicians, if they have limited abilities but like to show off, and want to seek appointed positions for their black friends or adversaries in the big city political scenes of America, refer them to Martin. He’ll be doing this kind of business in Los Angeles, I mean, he can help those black people lobby for some appointed positions in places like the fire department, police department, and so on."

"Can I say I don’t want to hear it, dear Big Bird Tommy? You didn’t come here just to enjoy a relaxing massage with me this afternoon, you’re here to force me to cough up money again, right? You’d better tell me, ’No!’" Jim glared, asking with a face full of irritation.

Tommy smiled in embarrassment, then said, "Yes."

"Isn’t that your damn third stage game? Can’t you wait until you’ve cleared the second stage and collected your reward before progressing? Can’t you have some pity for those negroes? You should know, every time you push me, a whole bunch of negroes need to sell their resources at lower prices," Jim cursed dejectedly.

Tommy smiled apologetically, with no resentment towards Jim for cursing him, after all, begging for a meal required appropriate attitude, he could only barely explain, "But I am also helping black people. The money I use is given to Martin, so he can help black elites become city managers."

"The question is, will black people in Africa be happy because there’s a black fire chief in Los Angeles?" Jim rubbed his face, feeling a headache coming on again.

"That’s not my problem to consider. If they are all black, why can’t they be happy for their fellow man? One should be charitable and not dwell on temporary loss," Tommy said, wiping his damp hair.

"Because for them, loss is permanent, just like Murdoch is about to lose."