Time quickly moved into October.
After a full season of airing, 'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion' had accumulated massive popularity both domestically and overseas. Naturally, the premiere of Season 2 drew overwhelming attention.
During the break, fans had endlessly speculated about how the story would continue—
And Episode 1 of Season 2 answered them most unexpectedly:
A reset.
The Black Knights had been defeated.
Zero was dead.
The resistance forces in Area 11 had been completely crushed.
That was the information given right at the start.
But then—
Lelouch was back at Ashford Academy.
He had a mysterious younger brother, Rolo.
And Shirley, the tragic heroine from Season 1, was once again his friend.
At that moment, many fans thought they had watched the wrong episode—or missed something.
But the truth was soon revealed.
Lelouch's father was also a Geass user—
His ability: memory manipulation.
Nunnally had been taken away.
Lelouch's memories as Zero had been erased and replaced with a fabricated life—including the existence of a fake younger brother, Rolo.
Rolo's role?
To monitor Lelouch.
And more importantly—
To use this "amnesiac Zero" as bait to lure out the remnants of the Black Knights.
The plot was wild—
But completely logical.
Fans who had assumed Lelouch would die after his identity was exposed now realized something:
As long as the pen was in the writer's hands—
Anything could be justified.
Meanwhile, led by C.C., the surviving Black Knights began secretly rescuing Lelouch.
After regaining his memories, Lelouch still chose to play along—
For Nunnally.
He pretended to remain unaware, acting out a false life with his fake brother.
From here, Season 2 took on a dual structure:
Hidden storyline: Lelouch, as Zero, regains control of the Black Knights and secretly allies with another major global power (clearly recognizable to Xia Nation audiences), aiming to overthrow Britannia.
Surface storyline: Lelouch plays the role of an ordinary student, navigating school life while plotting to rescue Nunnally.
Right from Episode 1, Season 2 delivered a massive shock to fans worldwide.
All the predictions before release?
Far too limited.
No one expected the story to unfold like this.
And yet—
It worked.
Despite its bold ideas, the pacing was tight, the tension constant.
Especially with Rolo—
A Geass user himself—
The suspense was pushed to the extreme.
As expected for a sequel to such a hit, Episode 1 of Season 2 achieved a 7.03% rating.
A number beyond normal industry limits—
But not beyond expectations.
At this point, Su Yan had become a "bug" in the system.
Without him, Xia Nation dramas capped at around 5.6%–5.8%.
With him—
The ceiling was broken past 7%.
Both domestic and international audiences had developed immense trust in his work.
For most creators, that kind of blind faith would be dangerous.
No one could maintain peak quality forever—
And once a failure appeared, backlash would be severe.
But for Su Yan?
He didn't care.
The library of classics in his system was so vast that even maintaining his current pace, he might not use half of it by the time he turned seventy.
There was no pressure.
By October, with Season 2 airing, Su Yan's focus had already shifted elsewhere.
He kept an eye on ratings—
But most of his energy went into:
'Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta Gundam'
'Mobile Suit Gundam SEED'
'Howl's Moving Castle' (Spring Festival release)
The third 'Rurouni Kenshin' film
'Suzume' (summer release)
At the same time, a TV adaptation of 'Rurouni Kenshin' was entering planning stages.
Su Yan intended to complete the film trilogy within two years—
While simultaneously launching:
A TV series
A large-scale RPG action game
The game, developed over nearly three years with a budget exceeding 200 million, would release alongside the TV drama.
Although his company had produced several games before, none were truly top-tier AAA projects—
But 'Rurouni Kenshin' would be.
And even before its release—
Plans for Gundam games had already begun.
For most IP creators, expansion followed success—
First TV or film, then games and merchandise.
But Su Yan didn't have time to wait.
What he had—
Was money.
Even if not every project guaranteed profit—
He could afford the risk.
So from the moment 'Mobile Suit Gundam' entered production, its entire ecosystem—merchandise, games, spin-offs—was already in motion.
With all this investment, Su Yan had expected his company's cash reserves to shrink.
Instead—
The opposite happened.
Revenue from:
'Rurouni Kenshin' (Spring Festival)
'Weathering With You' (summer)
'Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion'
…began pouring in.
Domestic and international earnings from multiple channels converged—
And Dimensional Pictures' cash flow approached 10 billion.
And that didn't even include the value of its IP rights.
Because it remained privately owned, Su Yan didn't appear on billionaire rankings based on stock valuations.
But within the industry—
Everyone knew his true worth.
If he entered capital markets and played the usual financing games—
Becoming a billionaire on paper would be effortless.
But Su Yan had his limits.
In recent times, he had rejected numerous offers.
"Dimensional Pictures has only two shareholders—me and Shinozaki Ikumi. That's how it is now, and that's how it will stay. I don't lack money. I'm not interested in going public."
He hung up after rejecting yet another suggestive proposal.
"They're like sharks smelling blood," Shinozaki Ikumi said with a smile, sipping milk tea.
"He came to me before. I turned him down. Now he's come to you."
"Yeah…" Su Yan sighed.
"There've been more and more of them lately."
"But it doesn't matter," she said.
"The most valuable asset of this company is you. As long as that doesn't change, nothing can touch us."
Su Yan understood.
Dimensional Pictures didn't rely on physical assets—
Its true value lay in Su Yan himself and the IPs under his name.
Without his cooperation—
No one could take that away.
"By the way," Shinozaki Ikumi added, shifting back to work,
"The overseas ratings for Season 2 just came in."
"All broadcast regions—No.1."