"A dear friend?"

Confused and somewhat intrigued, the reporters looked at Molly and the girls meeting up with Felix mid-way to give him each a quick hug before separating.

'Who is he, Queen?' They all asked the Queen for a quick search after seeing the girls talking amicably with Felix.

In a split second, Felix's public information was in front of them on an invisible screen.

After reading that he was a newcomer investor, who was actually one of the series's main shareholders, they couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. Especially when they saw that he owned 20% on the series!

After digging deeper, they found that he also owned 39% shares in the movie 'Human Melodies'! Although this movie was streamed only in the Alexander Kingdom, they still had an idea about it since it made a wide splash during its release.

For Felix's only investment projects to be either turned successful or showed the potential of success, the reporters knew that he was either extremely lucky or the real deal!

Now that they had some crucial information about him and seeing his close relationship with Molly, they swiftly surrounded them and started assaulting him with questions!

Some of them were about his upcoming business ventures, if he was affiliated with an investment company, or was just a lone investor dipping his hand here and there.

But still, most of the questions were about his close relationship with Molly and if anything was going on between them.

Too bad for the reporters, neither Felix nor Molly were seeking attention that badly to act secretively about their relationship and create baseless drama.

"He is my benefactor." Molly placed her hand on top of Felix's shoulder and said with a look of gratitude, "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been acting in this masterpiece."

Upon hearing so, the reporters got even more curious and branched on her answer by asking for details.

knowing that giving up was impossible for those reporters unless they got something tangible, Felix interjected by saying calmly, "We have met in an auction and since I am a big fan of her works, I took advantage of the opportunity to offer her a role in this series."

Click Click...!

"Look at the time. The episode is about to start." Stella immediately said after seeing that the reporters were actually increasing instead of leaving.

They were all taking pictures with their bracelets or just blinking their eyes, making it unbearable to stay around them.

Felix also didn't plan on staying as their questions had nothing to do with his investments but just his private life.

"If you can excuse us." Stella waved her fingers at them and placed her wrist around Felix's elbow in an intimate manner. Then, both of them walked hand in hand on the red carpet. Molly and Nathalia soon followed after them.

This time they utterly ignored everyone and went inside the pyramid-like building.

Inside, reporters weren't allowed to enter so the guests could have a nice private talk before the episode.

Any guest interested in getting interviewed could always go back.

After stepping inside, Molly took Felix and the girls to the series's team, wanting to introduce Felix to them.

Alas, she was soon left embarrassed as Felix started poaching the producers, assistant managers,  and the director. Heck, even the casting director wasn't spared from getting an offer by Felix.

They all took his offer into careful consideration after knowing that he was loaded and planning on acquiring a film studio to do his own projects.

Since he was already close to Stella and Molly, they guessed that he already had them in the bag in his upcoming films and series.

But it was just consideration. They weren't willing to jump ships when this series was clearly showing a promising future. Thus, most of them rejected Felix politely.

However, Felix wasn't troubled by their rejection as he wanted his offer to be out there in the open.

He knew that directors had their circle, actors/actresses had theirs, even casting managers had a circle of their own.

This meant, if one of them was talented and looking for a new project to work on, they would be notified about Felix's offer from their peers.

Felix was doing so because of the draught of talents in the film industry. The AIs had made it so easy to film movies and series. Human touch was lacking in most of them.

What's worse, most film crew members were only slightly learned about their work since the AI could take care of everything.

Felix didn't want to rely mostly on AIs for his upcoming projects as he understood that good films were born from the raw emotions and hard work both the actors and the crew put into the filming process.

He knew that it would be tough to gather a crew like that but he was going for it no matter what!

...

Shortly after...

"Ladies and gentlemen please head to gate number one." An abrupt announcement resounded on the building's ground floor, shushing down the guests' chatter for a second.

"It's about to start." Felix glanced at the time and gestured with his hand for the girls to walk with him.

Soon, they reached the gate and entered it after the others.

Immediately after, they were dropped into the movie's world while sitting on comfortable chairs. Felix looked around and the light was still dim not showing much of the world's environment. But he could guess that they were currently on a college campus.

Soon, he lifted his head and eyed the big timer that was counting down.

'Still five minutes.'

Felix clicked a button on a controller and four glasses of red wine were placed in their seat's cupholder.

"A quick toast for Molly." Felix smiled faintly while lifting his glass.

"I don't deserve it." Molly got a bit embarrassed but she still lifted her glass after Stella and Nathalia.

"I have yet to see the first episode but from Molly's astonishing previous acts in dramas, I expect nothing less but a splendid series!" Felix offered a warm smile as he clicked his glass with theirs, "Cheers!"

"Cheers!"..."Cheers!"..."Cheers!"

******

While Felix was enjoying the girls' company in the cinema, The Hiltons were gathering in the basement of a large mansion on the outskirts of Boston.

The discussion they were currently having would chill the Maxwells' hearts if they got wind of it. Simply because they were finalizing the plan to kidnap Felix!

This plan was in the making for a whole three months unlike the last kidnapping attempt that was pulled off only in three days of planning!

"Grand Elder, when should we expect the Marauder Poison to arrive?" Joseph, the white-bearded elder, asked softly while folding his hands on top of a circular table.

This table was currently seated with more than twenty individuals. Six of them were Hilton elders and thirteen were mercenaries, easily noticeable due to their S.W.A.T-like uniforms.

Unsurprisingly? The last one sitting at the table was Adam!

There wasn't a single ounce of politeness or warmness on his face. Just pure chilling coldness while gazing at the holographic image of Felix.

It was placed right in the center of the table so everyone could get a good look at him in the picture.

"Be patient." The Grand Elder added another hologram in the center and said, "Mr. Hire had informed me that tomorrow he would bring all of the items needed to pull off the operation perfectly."

Joseph nodded his head and didn't mention the matter again.

"Let's summarize the plan in case some of you forgot a part." The Grand Elder said while pointing his finger at the secondary hologram showing some blueprint for a building's pipeline.

"How can we forget a part when our lives are dependent on it, you old f*cker." A gruff voice escaped through the mask of a man sitting in the opposite direction of the Grand Elder.

He didn't sound pleased in the slightest by being here with the Hiltons.

Who could blame him though?

His mercenary squad was forced on this suicidal mission of kidnapping Felix!!

It wasn't because the plan wasn't viable but simply because they were f*cking going to kidnap the Earthling Team captain!

No sane mercenary squad would even consider accepting this mission even if they were offered billions of dollars. They knew that moving against Felix was the same as moving against the world.

There would be absolutely no place for them to stay even if they somehow managed to pull it off.

No one was that dumb to put himself in that situation.

Alas, this mercenary squad got played by the desperate Hiltons.

Instead of approaching them with a mission to kidnap Felix, they requested a simple mission of kidnapping a normal bloodliner, who was spending his holiday outside of the public camp.

The squad saw no reason to reject such an easy mission especially when the price offered was an AP bracelet for each squad member!

Thus, they went through the plan and kidnapped the bloodliner successfully. After bringing him in, they received their AP bracelets without a problem.

However, the moment they wore them to check if they were the real deal or fake ones, which were being sold in the markets to scam desperate people, they got collapsed on by a private squad belonging to the Hiltons! 

After a long tough fight, they ended up losing due to their ammo running out. Then, they got caught and forced to sign a contract, entailing their full cooperation in the upcoming mission to kidnap Felix.

If they refused to sign it, they would get put down immediately!

To facilitate their agreement, the Hiltons exposed their plan and the unique items used in it.

After seeing the plan's viability and that their lives wouldn't be endangered after pulling it off, everyone agreed to the contract.

Plus, the rewards given weren't shabby in the slightest as each member would be getting 20 million dollars cash!

Just like this, the Hiltons obtained help from an elite squad after tens upon tens of rejections from other ones.

The best part, this squad was obliged to do its very best in the plan since their lives depended on its success. 

If they failed, the Queen would pop their consciousness based on the terms signed.

This was the reason why the leader of the Squad scoffed. Their lives were on the line here, so who would dare forget his part in the plan?

Slam!

"Shut up and listen!" Enraged, the Grand Elder pounded the table with the side of his fist and said, "My family's survival is also dependent on the mission's outcome! So we will discuss the plan even a hundred times if we had to!"

Upon being reminded of the latest threat delivered by Mr. Gama personally, the Hilton elders trembled in their seats from fear and agitation.

They ought to feel that way as Mr. Gama promised them the destruction of their family if they failed for the 2nd time!

Of course, he was neither going to make a move nor his Organization due to the Alliance's existence. But, placing irresistible bounties in the elders' heads and on their assets shouldn't be a problem for them.

"Adam, why don't you take it from here?" Relaxed again, the Grand Elder recoiled back on his seat while giving Adam access to his holograms.

"As you wish, Great-Grandfather." Adam said calmly.