“It’s already done?” Vicki was astonished. After all, it had only been a few days. She reached out to take the picture book.

  On the cover was Miss Black Cat who was trying to scale over the city wall to escape in the night.

  Miss Black Cat climbing over the wall seemed to have a certain underlying meaning. It wasn’t just a wall that she was scaling over, but the binding rules of the world.

  Outside of the high walls, was freedom.

  Vicki stared at the picture book’s cover in a daze for a long time before she finally smiled.

  The picture was intricate and beautiful and the Miss Black Cat looked very much like her. Most importantly, choosing the scene of her scaling over the high walls in the dark as the cover suited her thoughts perfectly.

  Then, she opened the picture book and read through it seriously.

  The storytelling of the picture book was slightly different from the opera’s. Some of the sequences were switched, but it didn’t affect the storytelling at all. Instead, it suited the picture book’s way of storytelling more.

  Some of the contents were removed, as the opera had very long singing parts and the picture book simplified them. It made the story more concise and it moved at a faster pace.

  Vicki finished reading half of the picture book in about 10 minutes. She closed the picture book gently like a treasure before standing up to seriously say to Annie, “Thank you so much for giving this story a brand new life.”


  Annie was slightly stunned. Then, she revealed a happy smile and said with sign language, “It’s you who created this story and I am very honored to have been able to illustrate it.”


  “It’s so excellently drawn and has completely exceeded my expectations. I like it very much and am very satisfied with it.” Vicki reiterated.

  “Thank you.” Annie smiled reservedly, but it was obvious that she was very happy.

  Mag curved his lips slightly into a smile. He guessed it felt rather good to be acknowledged by the original author.

  It seemed like drawing comics was indeed very suitable for Annie. It allowed her to gain more recognition.

  “Since Miss Vicki is very satisfied with Annie’s illustrations, let’s discuss the licensing of the picture book’s copyright,” Mag said to Vicki.

  “Does Mr. Hades intend to print out this picture book?” Vicki asked.

  “Yes. I think this is an excellent picture book. Be it the core of the story, or the drawing style, they are both very excellent.” Mag nodded. “Furthermore, I’m trying to launch a picture book business, and I think this book is quite a good start.”


  Vicki looked at Mag and pondered.

  In the Underground City, copyright was a very important thing and there was a series of stringent laws that protected licensing.

  An excellent work usually could get rather good licensing revenue.

  However, on the Norland Continent, the laws in this area weren’t well-covered. Although there was an awareness of copyright exclusivity, there weren’t many reference cases regarding such licensing that crossed genres.

  The story of Miss Black Cat had a special meaning to Vicki, but Annie had really drawn it so well that it showcased the core of the story perfectly.

  If this story was spread in the form of picture books, it would have rather good results and sales. It should be able to bring some popularity to the Black Cat Opera House.

  Moreover, she was very in need of money right now. Be it the opera house’s renovation, or the recruitment of new actors, she needed a big sum of money urgently.

  “How does Mr. Hades intend to collaborate?” Vicki asked.

  Although she wasn’t sure of Mag’s background, she simply felt that he was a trustworthy partner.

  Mag directly said, “Regarding the exclusive copyright licensing of Miss Black Cat’s picture book, I have two choices for you:

  “One, a 5,000,000 copper coins outright buyout, which means I give you 5,000,000 and I’ll get the picture book’s copyright of Miss Black Cat and I won’t be paying you any fees in the future.

  “Or two. After deducting the cost according to the sales, I’ll give you 20% of the profit. This is a long term revenue and has an unknown and an uncertain outcome, but it might bring you some unexpected rewards.”


  “5,000,000 copper coins!” Vicki’s brain went blank.

  This was, without a doubt, a huge sum to her, who was always thinking about how to use one copper coin to support the whole opera troupe.

  Even after making a trip back to the Underground City, she still didn’t want any help from her family.

  She thought Mag might offer tens of thousands of copper coins and even decided to agree to deal at 100,000 copper coins.

  That 100,000 copper coins could do a simple upgrade for the opera house. At least she could replace those shabby long benches, upgrade the lighting and get a firm bed for each troupe member.

  She never expected Mag would offer her a high price of 5,000,000 right away!

  One had to know that before this, Miss Black Cat was still a story that nobody knew and was purely for self-entertainment.

  Even now, it was only popular among the Romo Street’s neighbors.

  Mag had really offered her too much…


  Mag looked at her smilingly. He didn’t hurry her.

  He could see that Vicki’s identity wasn’t simple. However, she had a stubborn character, so he didn’t know what decision she would make.

  “Did you say 5,000,000 copper coins?” Vicki asked Mag with uncertainty.

  “Yes. This is the best price that I can offer currently.” Mag nodded. This was already way above the copyright fees of all the picture books in the market right now.

  Did Vicki still find it lacking?

  Mag raised his eyebrows slightly. Miss Black Cat was indeed quite a good story. It was very refreshing in the current picture book market where it was full of cheesy love stories.

  He could consider offering more.

  “Do you think it’s too little?” Mag asked.

  “No, no, no!” Vicki shook her head. After realizing Mag seemed to be mistaken, she quickly explained, “5,000,000 copper coins is too much. I mean do you need to reconsider it? Just as you said, it has a great uncertainty.”


  Although the opera troupe really needed money right now, Vicki didn’t want to cheat Mr. Hades.

  He had rescued the Black Cat Opera Troupe from the mud and given them a new environment to grow in.

  “I’m a businessman, so I make every decision after thinking about it thoroughly. Since I offered you 5,000,000, it means that you’re worth this price.” Mag smiled. He began to like Vicki even better.

  This maiden was young but she had very good values.

  Vicki saw Mag didn’t look forced, so after thinking for a while, she said, “Then I’ll choose option one, the 5,000,000 copper coins to buy the copyright of Miss Black Cat’s picture book.”


  She could do a lot with 5,000,000 copper coins and she earned it with her own ability, so she could use it on the opera troupe without any stress.

  “Are you sure you don’t want the long term revenue option?”


  “Yes. The opera troupe needs a sum of money urgently right now. I think it is a better choice.” Vicki nodded with conviction. Perhaps the long term revenue might have given more room for imagination, but the opera troupe needed an immediate sum of money more.