King of Hollywood

"Virtual... virtual world?" Catherine seemed even more perplexed.

"If you've read William Gibson's 'Neuromancer,' you'll know how close the virtual world is to us. This novel pioneered the cyberpunk genre of science fiction," Adrian continued.

Catherine's mouth twitched slightly, as if she were smiling. "Sounds... really... profound."

"No worries, it's normal to feel confused when you first encounter these concepts. Just read more of these kinds of novels and it won't seem strange anymore." Adrian waved his hand. "You don't need to worry about those. Just tell me how you feel about the story."

"Just from the story's perspective..." Catherine tilted her head, thinking for a moment, pouting adorably. "Since these are fragments, neither story is fully developed yet, so I can't comment on them as a whole. As for the fragments, I think the one about zombies is more captivating in its descriptions, for example..."

She reached for the manuscript, flipped through it, and began to read, "Jill rolled on the ground, dodging the drooling fangs coming at her. Her countless times of training had her reflexively deliver a fierce kick to the opponent's jawbone. The zombie dog, all rotten flesh, whimpered a few times but immediately bounced back after hitting the ground, drooling and roaring as it attacked again.

Boom! Jill's gunshot rang out. In a split second, she had retrieved her handgun, aimed, and pulled the trigger. After several continuous gunshots, the disgusting zombie dog finally lay still on the ground. But before she could catch her breath, with several crashes, more zombie dogs burst through the glass and leaped into the hallway. Startled, Jill quickly turned and ran back the way she came; she sprinted down the hallway, slammed the door shut behind her, and then leaned against it, gasping for breath. It wasn't until then that she realized her palms and back were drenched."

Catherine stopped reading there, and then looked up at Adrian. "Your descriptions are very vivid, so the action-heavy zombie story fragments are more engaging than those of the... virtual world story. I suppose this characteristic has something to do with your work as a director."

"I have to say, you are quite perceptive, Miss Bequina," Adrian applauded, "and you have your own insights into novels. I'm quite impressed."

"When I was attending 'Gordon and Ritemel' School for Girls, I twice won the W. H. Smith writing competition prize, once with three essays and once with three poems." Catherine's tone seemed indifferent, yet her slightly raised chest betrayed her inner world. Adrian chuckled quietly, shaking his head slightly.

Catherine, perhaps realizing she went a little overboard, coughed awkwardly. "Of course, I can't compare with someone like you who writes stories so casually—honestly, don't you fear confusing your thoughts by writing two books at once?"

"Well, how should I put this..." Adrian thought for a moment. "What you said is possible, but not too serious. I'm only writing fragments, and these fragments are already conceived before I start writing. More importantly, when these different concepts collide in my mind, they might spark many new and valuable ideas, such as..."

He suddenly stopped speaking, staring directly at Catherine. Catherine, who had been waiting for him to continue, took a moment to react and then rolled her eyes irritably. "Such as what?"

"Wait!" Adrian raised a finger, shaking it, still staring intently at Catherine.

Catherine shrank her neck, furrowing her brows as she looked at Adrian with a puzzled expression.

"Stand up," Adrian gestured. "Stand up and turn around."

Catherine's frown deepened, but surprisingly, she wasn't angry. She complied, standing up and turning around in front of him. Adrian rubbed his chin, suddenly standing up and walking around the room. Occasionally glancing at Catherine, he mumbled while pinching his chin and frowning. Finally, he gestured to Catherine. "Is this okay?"

Catherine sighed, pulling her hair back and tying it into a makeshift ponytail with one hand.

"Can you tell me what exactly you want to...?" She looked at him, a bit helpless. But before she could finish speaking, Adrian interrupted, "Laura!"

"Laura? Sorry, I thought you should remember my..."

"Laura Croft!"

"Mr. Cowell, if you continue like this, then please allow me to..."

"Let me think, let me think, she should be a bit masculine, a bit wild. She should be an orphan, then adopted by an archaeological professor. Under that professor's tutelage, she... no, no, no, that would make the adventures seem passive, and too similar to Indiana Jones... that's it, a noble. She should be a noble. This way she could receive a good education and have more time for adventures, ideally from a noble family with archaeological traditions..." Adrian continued to talk as he paced, as if he had fallen into his own world.

Catherine finally grew a bit impatient. She took a deep breath and exclaimed loudly, "Mr. Cowell, may I leave?"

"Ah, Miss Bequina, I apologize," Adrian finally came to his senses. "I apologize for my rudeness. I just suddenly thought of a very interesting idea."

"A very interesting idea?" Catherine looked at him with some amusement.

"Yes, the female version of Indiana Jones." Adrian gestured, taking a piece of paper and a pen, then began drawing while explaining, "Laura Croft, the eleventh Countess in the Croft family. In 1547, Edward VI granted the property rights and residency of the Abington area in Surrey County to the Croft family. Laura received noble-style education from an early age and was recognized as a genius. If she continued this way, she might have become a proper English lady, but an incident at the age of nine changed everything. While flying back with her mother, the plane crashed in the Himalayas. Her mother died on the spot, but nine-year-old Laura managed to trek through snow and ice to Kathmandu in ten days... seems a bit exaggerated, after all, she was just a nine-year-old girl... but this suits her genius title, plus there's the protagonist's aura..."

"Wait, wait!" Catherine, who had taken in all of this, interrupted Adrian. She looked at him incredulously. "All of this came to you in just these few minutes?!"

"Well... sort of. Many areas still need development." Adrian shrugged, then placed the paper in Catherine's hand. It was a design sketch. Although it lacked facial features, and the hands and feet were quite simplistic, the few strokes nonetheless outlined the general image of a woman wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and shorts, military boots, with a backpack slung over her shoulder and a gun, her hair braided. A captivating quality leaped off the page.

Catherine stared at the female image in the drawing, not knowing what she was thinking.

"Your features are too soft, too delicate, and Laura needs a bit of wildness and unruliness. I must say, it is a regrettable thing," Adrian sighed at this moment.

"Did you look through those arrangements? If there are no objections, I'll take them to Mr. Haggis." Catherine suddenly asked, casually placing the sketch on the table as if it were not worth mentioning.

"Of course, I have no other objections." Adrian, not saying much more, handed over the thin schedule.

"Thank you." Catherine said briefly and then hurriedly left the room.

Adrian quietly watched the door, his hands crossed, for a long time.

"Well done, Haggis," he finally whispered.

Everything was within his plan, having Haggis find an excuse to bring Catherine to the room, then have a good talk and improve the rapport—except for the Tomb Raider concept. That indeed was an idea inspired by Catherine.

Originally planning to write 'Resident Evil' and 'The Matrix' into novels was a playful attitude towards the Japanese. Although 'Neuromancer' had long put forward the concept of a virtual world, and 'Blade Runner' approached the definition of reality from a different angle, most people were still fascinated by 'Ghost in the Shell.' After all, the two drivers admitted that the animation, still a few years away, inspired them a lot.

Adrian certainly would not miss out on being part of this groundbreaking film, 'The Matrix'; taking others' paths to leave them with no way of their own was his established strategy—so he decided to write out the novel version first to avoid association with 'Ghost in the Shell.' In any case, he had analyzed the script of 'The Matrix' countless times in his previous life. Modifying it slightly into a trilogy of novels was absolutely feasible, and as for 'Resident Evil,' that was just a bonus.

As he wrote novel fragments, he continued to refine his plan. After constant revision and reflection, he suddenly realized that writing 'Resident Evil' and 'The Matrix' as novels could significantly aid his plan. Thus, from Los Angeles to London, he would always find time to write some parts, even complaining about the hotel lamps for this reason.

Now, because of Catherine, Adrian thought of another subject he could turn into a novel, the game 'Tomb Raider,' which would appear six years later. He had to admit he was lucky. Moreover, this sudden inspiration not only played as significant a role as 'Resident Evil' and 'The Matrix' in his plan but also entirely eased his relationship with Catherine, truly a win-win situation.

"This is just the beginning." Adrian sat back at the typewriter once more.

Catherine was very attractive, but haste makes waste. He would take it slow. As for his plan, unless a big precondition was resolved, it would remain merely on paper.

"Crow, don't let me down." Adrian murmured, tapping letters.