[Chapter 498: The Spy Among the Boutique Salesgirls]
That night, when the show aired, the ratings absolutely skyrocketed. The next day's statistics revealed an unprecedented 32% viewership -- a figure rivaling the combined televised presidential debates before the elections. This was a jaw-dropping accomplishment that instantly smashed the ratings record for any TV program.
After the broadcast, the entire audience was buzzing. The explosive revelations Linton shared were simply too sensational to ignore. A dream imparting a secret formula? Was there really such a thing?
America, being a deeply religious country with many devoted Christians, took the story to heart. Some even began to believe Linton was a messenger of God himself. Even the seasoned veterans of the entertainment world, those old foxes who had long seen through the mechanics of the industry and didn't believe in God or divine beings, found themselves quietly wondering if the divine really existed, and if Linton had truly been touched by fate.
Massive numbers of viewers flooded the internet forums to discuss, overwhelming Yahoo's boards until they collapsed under the surge of traffic. Once the site was restored, heated debates exploded.
The top discussion was whether Linton really was a divine emissary; within less than a day, that thread amassed over 40 million replies.
Second most popular was the miraculous effects of the Vitality Pills and Beauty Pills, which many started to outright call "miracle drugs."
Third was the question of why, with all this power, Linton still insisted on singing and acting in movies.
Surprisingly, the fourth most-discussed topic was a candid inquiry into just how skilled Linton was in the bedroom.
...
Seizing this momentum, Bella's PR team actively pushed the conversation across forums to generate buzz for Mission: Impossible. On Yahoo alone, discussion about the film quickly surpassed 10 million posts in a single day.
Another wildly popular topic was whether Mission: Impossible would be Linton's final starring role, drawing extensive speculation and debate.
Between the explosive interview and the online frenzy, Mission: Impossible received phenomenal free publicity nationwide.
...
The next day, every major newspaper ran front-page stories covering Linton's interview, leading a flood of experts to offer their varied interpretations. Whether Linton was a divine messenger became a matter of national intrigue.
Naturally, the perceived prestige and appeal of the Beauty Pills and Vitality Pills soared.
Almost every media report mentioned the upcoming release of Mission: Impossible, which, riding this wave of excitement, became a household name.
Many viewers, moved by Linton's final words, vowed to support him by buying movie tickets, afraid that poor box office results might dissuade him from continuing his career in film.
...
Thanks to Linton's rock-solid reputation built over years at the North American box office, and the early announcement of the film's May 10 release date, every movie with any box office ambition purposefully avoided that weekend.
Riding this momentum, the distribution department re-negotiated with theaters, and cinema chains boosted Mission: Impossible's screening plans to an unprecedented scale -- 3,600 screens nationwide.
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Meanwhile, Linton took a moment to check on the boutique store's renovation progress. Store manager Alexis Carlson and security chief Guli Goth were handling things responsibly; renovations were on track, and the grand opening was assured to proceed on schedule.
A few days earlier, Alexis and Goodman, with agency's help, had recruited 25 youthful, attractive salesgirls from thousands of applicants.
Thanks to the hype surrounding the Beauty and Vitality Pills and the boutique's generous pay -- $80,000 per year per salesgirl -- the job attracted many high-quality young women. Even more enticing was the opportunity to potentially meet -- and maybe catch the eye of -- the legendary Linton Anderson himself, turning their fortunes around in a flash.
...
Linton personally gave them a final test, with his Soul Induction ability, to ensure none harbored ill intentions or were spies of any kind.
Such vigilance was essential because, once open, the boutique would house vast quantities of the valuable Beauty and Vitality Pills.
Despite increased police presence in the area and the store's security measures, the risk remained: if someone with ulterior motives infiltrated the staff, working secretly with outside forces, it could cause devastating losses.
Indeed, under Linton's Soul Induction, several suspicious individuals were uncovered -- three, in fact.
One was a drug-addicted woman controlled by a local gang, evidently placed there to facilitate future robberies.
Another was secretly bought off by the pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, tasked with corporate espionage.
The third was an intelligence operative covertly hired by the French pharma titan Sanofi.
Clearly, money moved hearts, and the White House's concerns were not without merit.
Without hesitation, Linton decisively eliminated the three infiltrators -- though sparing means he chose not to be excessively cruel.
That left 22 trustworthy salesgirls, enough to fully staff the boutique. Goodman promptly signed contracts with them, and Alexis was set to begin pre-opening training the very next day.
---
Meanwhile, Daniel from Universal Studios boldly showed up at Linton's estate.
All the songs for Linton's third album had been recorded, but the promotional music videos were nowhere near completion. Without them, the album couldn't be properly pushed.
With Linton's current hot streak, now was the perfect moment to release the album.
If this were any other star, they would have already rushed to market, exploiting the heat of success.
But Linton was the big boss; Daniel was just a small player under his command.
Still, unable to resist the lure of the market, Daniel insisted Linton squeeze in time for filming at least one music video, suggesting they could release a single first.
Seeing Daniel's enthusiasm, Linton felt reassured and agreed to the compromise.
They chose the track "You'll Be In My Heart" for the video, with Xu Qing as the female lead.
This sudden change threw Daniel for a loop.
"Boss, didn't all the other videos already have leading ladies -- your official girlfriends? Now you want to put Xu Qing in the mix... who do I kick out?"
Luckily, Linton made it simple and quickly handed over a new song, Good Time.
"The new album's tracklist increased to sixteen songs; the original MV leading ladies remain unchanged."
"Great! Then I can start scheduling overtime right now to produce the single You'll Be In My Heart."
*****
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