Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

Little Kunas listened to the droning response on the phone, his expression twisted and fearsome with rage.

He had not expected Ivanka to be like this now, not only not blaming Link for having illegitimate children outside, but even accepting that bastard keeping a mistress. This was just too hypocritical.

Moreover, the adoration, love, pride, attachment, sweetness, and silent warmth that seeped through Ivanka's tone when she mentioned "my Link" were gentler than the softest currents in the world.

If that tenderness were directed at him, he'd feel blissfully happy, even to the point where his bones would melt in the sound of that voice.

But it wasn't.

It was "my Link" that Ivanka spoke about.

"Damn Link, all of this should have been mine, mine!"

Little Kunas angrily knocked over the laptop, telephone, folders, and stacks of newspapers on the table... There was a loud clatter as a heap of items scattered across the floor.

After venting furiously, Little Kunas adjusted his tie, took several deep breaths, and gradually calmed down. He picked up the phone to call his assistant, telling them to keep contacting the media.

This time he wasn't just going to criticize Link; he would also berate Ivanka.

Saying she was after Link's three billion, if Link were a penniless nobody, she would definitely not fall for him; she was nothing but a materialistic, snobbish, superficial, bad woman.

Little Kunas ranted into the phone.

"Boss, the direction of public opinion has shifted."

Suddenly the assistant reminded him.

"The direction has shifted? How so? Which way? Do you think we're sailing here, that the wind changes just like that?"

Little Kunas shouted, annoyed.

"Boss, the direction really has shifted. You can open the Yahoo website and see. Many of the news stories have been pulled, replaced with news that's favorable to Link."

The assistant said.

Little Kunas frowned, picked up the nearly smashed laptop from the floor, connected the network cable, and checked.

Upon opening the Yahoo website, the first thing he saw was a bold headline, "Link defeats Phelps to sweep four golds at the championships," followed by a flashing "hot" label.

Opening the news article, it was a dispatch from an Associated Press reporter sent from Huaxia.

The 14th World Swimming Championships were held from July 16th to 31st, 2011 in Dahai City, Huaxia.

Link, Phelps, Ryan Lochte, and other famous swimmers represented the United States team in various swimming events at the championships.

In yesterday's and today's finals, Link successively defeated Brazilian star Cielo, French star Bernal, South Korean star Park Hwan-tae, and others in the 50/100/200 freestyle events, securing gold medals in three categories.

Also, in the 4x100 freestyle relay, he worked with Phelps and other teammates to achieve another gold medal.

In the first three days of the World Swimming Championships, Link had already obtained four gold medals, broken three world records, and advanced to the semifinals and finals in six more events.

The Associated Press predicts that Link is expected to win over seven gold medals at this World Championships and break more than five world records.

He will also become the seed swimmer of the U.S. swimming team and the first to qualify for the swimming events of next year's London Olympics.

"Fuck!"

Little Kunas couldn't help but curse aloud as he read the news; he had forgotten about the World Swimming Championships and that Link was still an official member of the national swimming team.

He closed the Associated Press news page and continued to browse other news sections on the Yahoo website.

He found that many news programs criticising Link in the morning had, by now, swapped half their content for reports of Link's stunning collection of four gold medals at the World Championships.

They discussed how amazing Link was at swimming, why he was so good, any connection between boxing and swimming, and provided numerous video links to the competitions—all extremely popular.

He then looked at Google, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other social and news platforms, and noticed the trending topics had changed as well.

News of Link beating renowned swimmers like Phelps and leading the medal rankings at the Championships skyrocketed, overtaking several stories that criticised him and Taylor for fighting over their child, becoming the number one trend on most search lists.

The speed with which these online media changed their tune was faster than flipping through a book.

"Why is this happening?"

"It's just four gold medals from the World Championships, not the Olympics, so why such high popularity?"

Kunas paused for a moment, then made a call to his assistant, asking them to investigate the reason for this shift in public sentiment.

Even if the news of Link securing four gold medals at the World Championships was sensational, it couldn't reverse the narrative within half a day.

He didn't have that kind of influence, so it must have been Link's music team spending a lot of money on public relations, intentionally exaggerating the news, trying to turn around his reputation before the release of Link's new album.

It would be ideal to find evidence to see how much money Link's music team had spent, and it wouldn't be too bad if it could make Link spend some more.

But the assistant informed him that they had already communicated with the media and it was "Captain America" that exerted its force.

Captain America was a movie produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

And Paramount's parent company was ViacomCBS, which also owns MTV, with Lei Shidong exerting significant influence in the entertainment and media industry.

The assistant also mentioned that news outlets under the News Corporation were focusing on reporting this news.

And some media under the Hearst Corporation as well.

As a result of the combined effort of these three large media conglomerates, the internet and television news media were the first to make adjustments.

This led to a strange phenomenon: while the American newspapers and magazines were still discussing the legal and moral issues of Link and Taylor fighting over their child, the internet and television news had already switched to reporting Link's gold medal victories at the World Championships.

This situation also demonstrated the serious delay of print media in reporting news.

Other media, seeing the shift in focus, quickly adjusted their reporting priorities to attract audiences and be the first to sell their news products.

If this trend continued, it was foreseeable that, starting tomorrow, most media would drop the old news about Link and switch to his latest developments.

Some media might choose to cover both stories, simultaneously praising Link and criticising him.

This would also make Link even more controversial.

Yet, this kind of mixed public opinion, half good and half bad, wasn't necessarily a bad thing for a public figure, and it might actually further enhance his influence.

"Boss, should we still pay to have press releases written that criticise Link?"

The assistant asked.

Kunas's lips trembled, but he couldn't make a sound.

Paying well-known commentators to continue vilifying Link had been his strategy, and it was quite effective in creating immense public pressure on Link when the mainstream media was criticising him.

But now that the tide had turned, it was no use continuing to criticise him.

"Wait for now, there might still be an opportunity."

Kunas reluctantly hung up the phone.