Chapter 170: The Silver Coin that Confounded the English Heroine
A few days later.
Things were proceeding smoothly for George, with a well-organized plan.
During the day, the Dream Palace served as a supply station. At night, the Dream Palace became an “intelligence center,” where Ji Ma would patrol in the dream world and return to the Dream Palace to report surveillance information to George in the form of images.
In just a few days, two teams led by mighty Minotaurs fell at the hands of George and his companions.
However, the atmosphere of victory did not reach Ji Ma.
This was because the income report from her book had arrived, and it was unexpectedly pitifully low.
“A total of 341 gold coins.”
As 341 gold coins clinked onto the small pile, the pleasant sound faded quickly, and there was little change in the small gold pile despite the addition.
“I’m so poor!”
Ji Ma lay next to the pile of coins, curling her body around the small stack with ease.
“Only 3,649 gold coins!”
Ji Ma couldn’t understand how her once plentiful gold had dwindled since all she had done was indulge for a few months, buy a few things, and help the fallen young women of the Red Mill.
There was no hope for selling books.
Although Ji Ma had burned down the printing factory run by the old man with a white beard, there were still other printing houses; not only in Adolf, but in other cities as well. Burning down one piracy printing house only temporarily boosted the sales of the licensed version.
But soon, those legitimate printing houses that had collaborated with the publishers began printing more lucrative pirated copies. Ji Ma couldn’t very well burn down all the printing houses in Adolf.
“I’m such a fool for wanting to write again,” she complained, feeling disheartened. She stood up and looked at her writing desk.
A pile of manuscript paper was stacked on the desk, and “The Amazing Adventures of JoJo” had reached 80%. The last golden-haired fox-eared loli had already entered the harem.
But Ji Ma now did not want to write the ending.
“Everything has a beginning and an end.” Ji Ma took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and forced herself to walk step by step towards the desk, each step being so difficult.
Sitting in the chair, she opened the text area of her personal system, and various versions of the outline for the ending appeared before her eyes.
A wave of nausea and deep frustration washed over Ji Ma as she waved her hand and abruptly shut down her personal system.
“Write? What a load of crap.”
Just after she uttered these harsh words, Ji Ma realized that no matter what, she still had to write this book. She still needed to inflict pain on everyone, to poison them with the cultural dregs from the Earth in the ending.
“Ah, upgrading is so painful.”
Ji Ma complained, resting her chin on the desk and muttering to herself, “If only someone could serve me.”
Perhaps Owen Green, that tool, could help. But how could he write stories? He only knew how to write essays.
“Forget it, give it a try.”
Ji Ma snapped her fingers, and the manuscript automatically flew back into the drawer, out of sight and out of mind.
…
…
“Are you the author of ‘JoJo’s Amazing Adventures’?”
Poor Owen Green had just been dragged onto a cart, still shaken, when a bearded man with a sword at his waist spoke in a deep voice from across him.
Owen Green’s voice was trembling: “Uh… no, it’s not me.”
“Really? Do you think I’m a fool?” The bearded man’s mustache was shaking, “Don’t think I don’t know, ‘JoJo’s Amazing Adventures’ was written by you. I have my people at XueLe Publishing.”
“I… I don’t know anything.” Owen Green was trembling so badly that his round glasses were about to fall off his nose.
The bearded man turned his head and gestured, and the bald man beside him punched Owen Green in the stomach.
Owen Green curled up in pain like a shrimp, but still insisted:
“I… I’m not the author. That trashy, vulgar novel wasn’t written by me.”
“Still refusing to admit it?” The bearded man said, “Someone burned my printing house and snuck into my home to beat me up, even my dog wasn’t spared.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Recently, my printing house has been printing ‘JoJo’s Amazing Adventures’,” the bearded man said, “I even consulted a mage, and he said I was under extraordinary influence and helped me restore my memory, but all I remember is ‘JoJo’s Amazing Adventures’.”
The bearded man became angrier: “Anyway, there’s no escape for me now. I’m practically going bankrupt. After you messed me up like this, I’ll take you directly to the port and throw you into the river!”
“I was just a ghostwriter.”
“Ghostwriter?”
“Yes.” Owen Green, terrified, spilled the whole story, “Ms. Ji contacted me and said she had a friend who wanted to write a book and asked me to ghostwrite for her.”
“Who is Ms. Ji? Where does she live?”
“I… I don’t know.” Owen Green said, “But I know she’s either rich or noble. She bought XueLe Publishing without batting an eye.”
He hoped this would intimidate the man.
“Hmph.” The bearded man snorted coldly, “Just because she’s got money, I have many friends on the street. If that woman doesn’t know what’s good for her, nobody can save her.”
Owen Green thought to say, “Wrongs have a head, debts have a master; if you want to find someone, look for Ms. Ji’s friend.”
But just then, the cart slowed, and someone outside shouted:
“The Rick River has arrived.”
This river could be considered the mother river of the Empire, along with the sea. Marin City, located at the estuary, had become the richest city in the entire empire due to the trade routes. Adolf, being built by the water, became the second richest city in the empire.
Naturally, beyond trade, this river was also perfect for disposing of corpses. Just tie a stone to someone’s feet and toss them into the river, and no matter how much they struggle, a wave would send them under.
Owen Green felt his legs trembling uncontrollably and forgot to speak up for Ms. Ji.
The cart came to a stop.
The bearded man personally opened the door and glanced at Owen Green:
“Why aren’t you getting out?”
“I… I.” Owen Green said, “Please don’t kill me.”
The bearded man laughed, his mustache shaking as he said, “Why would I want to kill you? I’m quite reasonable.”
The bald man pushed, and Owen Green got out of the cart.
By the shore, a boat awaited, on which lay several stones.
Owen Green found he could not control his knees, which seemed to be whispering to each other: “Buddy, let’s shake.” And then they started shaking together.
“Don’t be nervous.” The bearded man patted him on the back, “I just want to talk to you, just the two of us. Let’s get on the boat.”
Owen Green was forcibly pulled onto the boat.
It was a small ferry, not much different from an ordinary fishing boat, only big enough for two or three people to cross the river. Waves surged across the broad river surface.
The bearded man said:
“Don’t be afraid, I just want to chat. I’ve been in Adolf for over twenty years, and after all this time, I finally have a home, a few friends, and a printing house, only for it to be gone in one night. I still have four kids to raise.”
At this moment, Owen Green felt that the bearded man wasn’t so terrifying; he too was a father who needed to provide for his family.
He agreed, “Yeah, the person who burned your factory is too despicable. I’ll definitely help you find the original author.”
“No need,” the bearded man waved dismissively, “You’re also a fellow sufferer. If others find out you’re helping me find the original author, you won’t have it easy either. I wouldn’t want to make things difficult for a ghostwriter like you.”
What a joke, the bearded man didn’t want to conflict with the original author of “JoJo’s Amazing Adventures.” If that person could burn his printing house, they could also kill his dog without leaving any traces. Seeking official intervention wouldn’t yield any results.
If he hadn’t realized that Owen Green was just a ghostwriter, he would never have dared to pull him onto the cart.
Owen Green’s legs stopped trembling; he felt the bearded man was easy to talk to, a sensible person.
“You just need to help me with one thing.” The bearded man lit his pipe, “Just give me the manuscript ahead of time. As long as I can release the next installment of ‘JoJo’s Amazing Adventures’ early, I can definitely recover my losses.”
Owen Green was startled; if this got out, everyone would know it was him.
He blurted out: “No way!”
“No way?” The bearded man took a deep puff from his pipe and blew a large cloud of second-hand smoke towards Owen Green, “I’m about to starve at home, and you tell me no?”
After saying that, he slapped Owen Green hard on the back. Owen Green leaned forward and nearly fell into the cold river, instinctively grabbing onto the edge of the boat to prevent himself from falling in.
The boat rocked back and forth, a wave crashed, wetting Owen Green’s face.
With just a little more force, he would plunge into the icy water.
The bearded man asked, “So, what’s it going to be?”
“Fine… fine.”
“Why agree so quickly?” The bearded man laughed, “Take your time to think it over.”
After taking a few deep breaths, Owen Green gradually calmed down.
Ms. Ji would definitely be disappointed in him, seeing him as a small man.
Should he tell her? She was so kind.
But she didn’t lack money, nor did her friends. The bearded man was just a poor soul who needed money.
Owen Green began to persuade himself.
That friend of hers had terrible handwriting, wrote garbage, yet pointed fingers at me. It was his excessive actions that implicated me. I was just teaching her a little lesson.
What a terrible novel to write; if someone pirated it, that was his good luck.
Thinking this, Owen Green felt a strange pleasure at the thought of revenge. This impulse for revenge had been buried deep within him a month prior when that ridiculous and vulgar novel was being praised.
The world was insane; tasteless lowbrow novels were being so sought after. I’m just correcting this distorted phenomenon and defending literature.
Before the ferry had docked, Owen Green said, “Alright, I’ve made up my mind.”
“I’ll split the profits with you half.”
Thinking that he could defend literature and also earn money, Owen Green smiled, “Thank you.”
The bearded man extended his hand: “Pleasure to cooperate.”
Owen Green firmly shook his hand: “Pleasure.”
In that instant, time froze; the waves no longer crashed onto the shore, the bearded man’s mustache stopped shaking, and Owen Green’s smile froze on his face.
“Ah, the two-faced little weakling didn’t surprise me.”
Ji Ma spread her four-meter-wide wings and gracefully landed on the surface of the river nearby.
It was all a dream; Ji Ma was letting Owen Green recall in his dream. Owen Green was unaware that his heart’s voice had also been released, as people always overlook something unreasonable in dreams.
“Since you’re jealous of my friend,” Ji Ma’s golden eyes sparkled as she thought of a good idea and smiled, “Why not turn that jealousy into creative motivation and poison the readers with some suffering in the story?”
