The email remained open on Li Chen's screen.
Jinhai Entertainment Legal Department.
The message was short.
Cold.
Professional.
And extremely clear.
Several productions created while Li Chen was employed by Jinhai Entertainment were being claimed as company assets.
Among them was Lin Yueyin's upcoming single.
Li Chen stared at the screen for several seconds.
Xiaoyu stood behind him.
Yueyin, Yara, and Wanqing were sitting across the room.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Yara broke the silence.
"So they're trying to steal the song."
"Not exactly," Li Chen replied.
Yara frowned.
"Then what are they doing?"
"Something worse."
Li Chen closed the email.
"They're reminding me that they believe they own the battlefield."
Yueyin's expression hardened.
"But the song is mine."
"It is."
"And I chose you as my producer."
"I know."
"Then why can they interfere?"
Li Chen looked at her.
"Because I made the mistake of building everything inside someone else's house."
Nobody answered.
That sentence hit harder than expected.
For months, Li Chen had been thinking about improving his position inside Jinhai.
A larger department.
More creative control.
Better contracts.
More independence.
He had believed that if he became valuable enough, the company would eventually give him enough freedom.
He had been wrong.
The problem wasn't his position.
The problem was ownership.
As long as he remained inside Jinhai, someone else could always put a hand on the door.
And Zhou Kang understood that perfectly.
Xiaoyu suddenly looked toward the computer.
"Then what do we do?"
Li Chen stood.
"We release the song."
Everyone looked at him.
Yueyin blinked.
"Even though Jinhai says they own it?"
"Especially because they say they own it."
Wanqing narrowed her eyes.
"You have a plan."
Li Chen smiled faintly.
"I have half a plan."
Yara laughed.
"That's the most Li Chen answer I've ever heard."
Fourteen Days Later
The day of the release arrived.
And almost everything that could go wrong went wrong.
The original distribution agreement was gone.
The advertising campaign had been cancelled.
Several promotional appearances disappeared from the schedule.
Major platforms refused to give the song priority placement.
Even some media outlets that had previously promised coverage suddenly became unavailable.
The industry expected the song to disappear quietly.
Zhou Kang certainly did.
Inside his office, he looked at the latest report.
"Release confirmed?"
His assistant nodded.
"Yes. But without Aurora's distribution network, their reach should be significantly smaller."
"Promotion?"
"Mostly independent."
Zhou Kang leaned back.
"And the platforms?"
"Minimal exposure."
A small smile appeared on his face.
"Then it's over."
His assistant hesitated.
"There's one problem."
Zhou Kang looked up.
"What?"
"They're not relying on the platforms."
The smile disappeared.
At exactly midnight, Lin Yueyin's new single went live.
Not through the original distribution network.
Not through a major promotional campaign.
Not through an expensive advertising strategy.
It appeared across every independent digital channel Li Chen could legally use.
And then Yueyin herself appeared on livestream.
She sat in front of the camera with a microphone.
No expensive stage.
No elaborate lighting.
No giant screen.
Just her.
"Good evening."
Thousands of viewers immediately entered the stream.
Then tens of thousands.
Yueyin looked at the rapidly increasing number.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Xiaoyu, sitting beside the computer, nearly dropped her phone.
"Thirty thousand."
Yara looked over.
"Already?"
"Fifty thousand."
Wanqing calmly poured herself a glass of water.
"Keep watching."
The number continued climbing.
One hundred thousand.
Two hundred thousand.
Then half a million.
Comments flooded the screen.
Where can I listen?
Why isn't this on the main promotion page?
I found the song!
Yueyin's new song is amazing!
Why isn't anyone promoting this?
Then another message appeared.
#LetYueyinSing
The hashtag began spreading again.
This time, however, something was different.
It wasn't being pushed by a company.
It wasn't being pushed by an advertising campaign.
It was being pushed by the audience.
People were sharing the song because they wanted other people to hear it.
Li Chen watched the numbers.
He didn't celebrate.
Not yet.
He simply waited.
At 1:17 a.m., the song crossed one million streams.
At 2:04 a.m., two million.
At 4:32 a.m., three million.
And by morning, the song had become one of the most discussed releases on social media.
Xiaoyu stared at the statistics.
"I don't understand."
Li Chen smiled.
"You do."
She looked at him.
"They tried to control distribution."
"Yes."
"They tried to control advertising."
"Yes."
"They tried to control promotion."
"Exactly."
Xiaoyu slowly understood.
"But they couldn't control the audience."
Li Chen nodded.
"That's the part of the industry nobody owns."
Jinhai Entertainment
The atmosphere inside the executive meeting room was completely different.
Zhou Kang stared at the screen.
The numbers continued rising.
One of the executives spoke nervously.
"The song is performing significantly better than expected."
"How much better?"
"We don't have the complete data yet."
Zhou Kang's expression darkened.
Another executive spoke.
"The independent strategy worked."
"No."
Everyone looked at him.
Zhou Kang corrected himself.
"The audience worked."
He leaned back.
That distinction mattered.
Li Chen had just proven something dangerous.
He didn't need Jinhai's infrastructure as much as they had assumed.
Not completely.
Not yet.
But enough to cause a problem.
Zhou Kang picked up the report.
"He's learning."
Nobody answered.
Zhou Kang looked toward the window.
"For now, he still works for Jinhai."
One executive nodded.
"Which means we still have leverage."
Zhou Kang smiled again.
"Exactly."
Li Chen's Office
Later that afternoon, Li Chen sat alone.
The success of Yueyin's song should have made him happy.
Instead, he felt strangely calm.
Because he finally understood the real problem.
Even if they won today...
Tomorrow, Jinhai could do the same thing again.
And the day after that.
And the day after that.
They could interfere with contracts.
They could pressure distributors.
They could influence promotions.
They could create obstacles.
Not because Zhou Kang was unbeatable.
But because Li Chen was still fighting from inside someone else's organization.
His phone suddenly vibrated.
A familiar notification appeared.
[System Notification]
Li Chen raised an eyebrow.
The system had been unusually quiet recently.
He opened it.
[Major Mission Triggered.]
Mission: Independent Power
Objective: Establish an independent entertainment company.
Requirements:
Secure independent management rights.
Establish a production and distribution structure.
Protect the creative ownership of your artists.
Build an organization capable of competing with established entertainment companies.
Special Condition:
Your current company cannot be the foundation of the new organization.
Li Chen stared at the final line.
Then laughed.
"Of course."
The system couldn't resist.
Even at moments like this, it had to be dramatic.
Another notification appeared.
[Recommended Company Name: Nebula Entertainment]
Li Chen froze.
"Nebula?"
The name felt strangely familiar.
Not because the system had suggested it.
Because it sounded right.
A nebula was where stars were born.
And somehow...
That was exactly what he had been doing.
He hadn't created stars.
He had given them somewhere to shine.
Yueyin.
Yara.
Wanqing.
Three completely different artists.
Three different paths.
Three different futures.
Li Chen looked through the glass wall toward the rehearsal room.
They were all there.
Yara was arguing with Xiaoyu about something.
Wanqing was quietly reviewing lyrics.
Yueyin was practicing the new song again.
Li Chen smiled.
Then he picked up his phone.
"Xiaoyu."
She looked toward him.
"Yes?"
"Call everyone."
A few minutes later, the four women gathered around the table.
Yueyin looked curious.
"What's going on?"
Li Chen placed his phone on the table.
"I'm leaving Jinhai."
Nobody spoke.
Yara's eyes widened.
Wanqing simply stared at him.
Xiaoyu already seemed to understand.
"You're serious?"
"Yes."
Yueyin slowly asked:
"Where are we going?"
Li Chen looked at all of them.
"Somewhere where nobody can tell us which songs you can release."
Yara's smile appeared immediately.
"Now that sounds interesting."
Wanqing nodded.
"I'll follow you."
Yueyin looked at Li Chen for several seconds.
Then she smiled.
"So we're starting over?"
"No."
Li Chen shook his head.
"We're starting properly."
He picked up a piece of paper.
At the top, he wrote two words.
Nebula Entertainment.
He looked at the name.
Then at his artists.
And for the first time, the future didn't look like something he had to survive.
It looked like something he could build.
Far away, Zhou Kang was still watching him.
Jinhai was still watching him.
The entire industry was still watching him.
But Li Chen no longer cared.
The rules had changed.
And this time...
He would be the one writing them.
End of Volume 3.