ALL-ROUNDER ARTIST

Chapter 864: Chapter 818: It’s Time to Counterattack the Tribe

The next day.

After getting up, Lin Yuan didn’t head to the company but went to his Shadow Studio instead.

Luo Wei and her team were becoming more adept at drawing manga, so Lin Yuan barely had to worry about them—they just needed him to provide some storyboards.

In fact, Lin Yuan was finding his own storyboard work increasingly casual.

Take the storyboards he gave Luo Wei for “Naruto” last month, for instance—they were practically stick figures with rough compositions. Yet Luo Wei still managed to refine them perfectly.

Lin Yuan was surprised himself.

*He thought Luo Wei would come back and ask him to redraw the storyboards.*

This significantly decreased Lin Yuan’s visits to the studio.

However, this didn’t mean Lin Yuan wasn’t staying on top of his manga’s performance.

Jin Mu frequently updated him on the state of the Alliance Manga website—

Things were different from before.

As “Dead Sea of Fire” and “Dunk” progressed in their storylines, coupled with the influence of their animations, these manga series were becoming increasingly popular!

The entire Alliance website’s traffic had surged!

This emerging manga platform, fueled by Shadow Studio, now presented a vibrant and flourishing picture!

Similarly,

The phenomenon-level popularity of these manga was also boosting the Alliance’s appeal within the industry.

Currently,

The website was cultivating some excellent manga artists of its own.

Even some mid-tier creators dissatisfied with Tribe Comics were gradually making their way to the Alliance.

As a result, Alliance Manga’s traffic had grown so much that it was now nearly equal to Tribe Comics’ traffic.

Jin Mu, energized by this development, said:

“If everything goes as expected, in no more than six months, our traffic will match Tribe Comics!”

“Six more months?”

“You think that’s slow?”

Jin Mu responded with an amused laugh, “You’ve gotta understand that our website was built from scratch, while Tribe Comics had already attracted countless top-tier manga artists long before. It’s only recently—now that our site’s traffic has really exploded—that Alliance began to attract some remarkable artists. Before, those talented manga creators wouldn’t even consider publishing new works outside of Tribe’s platform. Tribe has also repeatedly thrown obstacles our way, trying to trip us up. Otherwise, we’d already be pulling even with them in terms of traffic.”

“Thrown obstacles?”

Lin Yuan asked, “What has Tribe done this time?”

Jin Mu explained, “The same old tactics—headhunting. They keep sniping creators from our Alliance. But Han Jimei isn’t soft. She included strict breach-of-contract terms in the agreements with manga creators, making poaching from Alliance increasingly costly for Tribe. Tribe Comics, being just a subsidiary of Tribe, isn’t exactly rolling in dough. They’ve had to ease up lately because poaching from us isn’t financially sustainable anymore. If they keep pushing, they’ll end up hurting their own operations. Balancing the cost-effectiveness of creators always becomes a consideration.”

“Why don’t we poach people?”

“Because we’re not as wealthy or well-connected as them.”

Jin Mu replied, casually, “There’s no pressure for us. As long as we hold our ground, things will inevitably fall into place. Judging by the current outlook, Alliance could catch up to their traffic in six months. In a year, we might even surpass them altogether, becoming the manga site with the highest traffic in the entire industry!”

No doubt about it.

Alliance was playing defense for now.

It was like the final phase of a basketball game.

Alliance didn’t need to focus on scoring; it just had to keep the opponent from scoring.

Because Alliance had control over both the rhythm and the score, all it had to do was manage possession and run out the clock to secure victory.

The reason Tribe was overpaying to poach talent was tied to their desperate bid to find a breakthrough through sheer offensive force. Without it, they were headed for a slow demise.

What may appear grand and unyielding was, in reality, hollow at its core.

Unless Tribe managed to lure Shadow over to their side, they wouldn’t be able to change the outcome no matter how fiercely they struggled.

“Let’s just wait.”

Jin Mu smirked, “A year from now, it’ll be our turn to go on the offensive. By then, Alliance will be the most attractive site in the industry, and every talent Tribe poached from us—we’ll eventually win them all back.”

Still, there was something frustrating about it.

*No one likes being forced to play defense continuously, enduring their rival’s relentless offensive pushes with no direct means to strike back.*

“Why wait so long?”

Lin Yuan pondered for a moment and said, “We could start poaching their talent now.”

Jin Mu immediately shook his head, “That’d mean playing their overpaying game, and while it’s viable—it honestly feels unnecessary.”

“No need to overpay.”

Lin Yuan replied, “I have an idea.”

Lin Yuan wanted to counterattack.

*Although his career had been smooth sailing, Tribe’s recent interference with Starlight’s operations was beginning to be a nuisance. He couldn’t ignore the fact that his own ventures might have been dragging down the company.*

*The chairman always supported him without complaint, but Lin Yuan couldn’t let himself take that for granted.*

*Even Xia Fan losing her acting role might have had something to do with him.*

“What sort of idea?”

Jin Mu looked at Lin Yuan with curiosity.

Lin Yuan didn’t elaborate but said, “Let Han Jimei reach out to Tribe’s manga creators, especially their top-tier pure illustrators. Those folks should be the easiest to win over. For other talented manga creators, reach out to them as well—invite them to sit down for a chat. Who knows, they might be willing to join us.”

Jin Mu jumped in surprise, “You’re serious about poaching?”

“Why not?”

Countless manga ideas filled Lin Yuan’s mind.

*He couldn’t possibly draw them all, even if he worked with his studio’s team of apprentices for a lifetime.*

This required a different approach.

If his new strategy succeeded, it could decisively crush Tribe Comics in one fell swoop.

“Could it be…”

A bold thought flashed through Jin Mu’s mind as he widened his eyes in shock, “You plan to personally supply the manga for them?!”

In the past, Jin Mu wouldn’t have dared make such an outlandish guess.

It sounded utterly fantastical!

But after watching Lin Yuan lead Shadow Studio to success, Jin Mu couldn’t help but consider even the boldest possibilities.

“Yes.”

Lin Yuan confirmed.

He recalled when he recently provided Luo Wei with dead-simple stick-figure storyboards for “Naruto,” yet she still managed to deliver splendid results.

This demonstrated elite manga artists’ strong ability to interpret and create.

This gave Lin Yuan plenty of room to maneuver.

For him, drawing stick-figure storyboards in bulk wasn’t much of a challenge.

He might as well roll out a mass-production model of stick-figure drafts—bringing forth Earth’s countless incredible but non-top-tier manga with substantial influence—to hand over to manga creators willing to join Alliance.

Lin Yuan believed these manga ideas were irresistible to many creators.

No need for overpayment.

Shadow would provide the manga, and Alliance’s rates would suffice!

“Will this work?”

Jin Mu’s heart raced, “Can you handle so many? The studio already has five people waiting on you for storyline input…”

“Let’s recruit as many as we can.”

There was no shortage—stick figure storyboards aplenty!

Lin Yuan even suspected that certain pure illustrators wouldn’t need his stick-figure guidance at all.

As long as the plot came through, everything else would fall into place—they could design stunning storyboards on their own.

“Song of the Wind…”

Lin Yuan teased with a smile, “Tribe is going to…”

Jin Mu interrupted him abruptly, “You’re making this sound so thrilling—I had to turn on my electric fan.”

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