Chapter 387
A glass filled with whiskey was placed on the table. Our conversation had shifted back to the mainland after we talked about events in outer space. However, the issue that arose at this year’s club meeting became the focus of our conversation as Jonathan started talking about it.
He cleaned the cups from the table, then I put my laptop there. Jonathan was in charge of scrolling the page.
「Global Stock Market Capitalization (Unit: 1 billion USD)
2015: 62,306
2016: 67,215
2017: 75,394
2018 (as of the Day of Advent): 28,911
2018 (as of the end of June): 73,200」
「Shareholding, Top 10 Groups (Unit: 1 billion USD / Market Capitalization)
As of the end of June
1. Jonathan Investment Finance Group: 16,329 (22.3%)
2. Gillian Investment Finance Group: 14,908 (20.3%)
3. Telestar Investment: 5,956 (8.1%)
4. Gold and Silver Investment: 1,660 (2.2%)
5. Rothschild Group: 1599 (2.1% )
5. State Lee: 939 (1.2%)
6. Resona Finance: 914 (1.2%)
8. Karjan Group: 902 (1.2%)
9. Jamie Corporation: 853 (1.1%)
10. Unicorn: 852 (1.1% )
Total: 44,912 (61.3%) 」
The information was published on the Bloomberg website, but it only pertained to stocks, which was just one component of our financial empire. The figures were obtained using the electronic disclosure system, and they seemed to represent the equity structure of a specific company, rather than providing comprehensive data on the global stock market.
Among them, I recognized the names State Lee, Resona Finance, and Unicorn because a large amount of my capital was in them. If Bloomberg had listed the top one hundred groups, then my paper companies would have been ranked 11th.
“The Rothschild Group existed until the end of June…”
Since the name had come to my mind, I brought that up to Jonathan. No matter how much I thought about it, the process of the dismantling of the Rothschild Group would have been done by a skilled butcher. Dresner Rothschild’s eccentric actions and Jonathan, who had just returned, claiming to be the ‘Guardian of the Order…’ I wondered if all of this was a coincidence.
What if Jonathan had been working hard to eliminate Rothschild instead of wandering? Then, why would he withhold this information from me? If Jonathan intended to oust Rothschild, I would have provided him with a legitimate reason to do so, considering how the two of us had both contributed to the growth of the empire.
I had my suspicions. After all, it didn’t make sense for Rothschild to obsess over gold for the sole reason of boosting their financial growth. Perhaps the Rothschild family wanted to become the leading group in the world and take revenge on me, unlike China which had failed to do so.
I could have made an excuse for that, but the higher the monkeys climbed up the trees, the more visible their behinds became. Rothschild was an object to be used, not to be removed. If Jonathan did end up removing Rothschild, then he might have been conscious that we would have a disagreement.
Unless he asked me to replace the entire club members with new individuals, I would have agreed with his decision.
Jonathan said.
“People mistake believing that they are in full control of their minds, so they often engage in reckless and irrational behaviors. You would not have experienced such people during the Stage of Advent, but I have observed numerous people who were blinded by their greed there. Their misguided ambitions have led them down a path of destruction, which I liken to a throne made of their own skeletons. Whether one’s ambition is noble or corrupt, the result can be equally detrimental.”
In fact, Jessica was one of those people. If she had been in the Stage of Advent, then her bones would have become a part of Jonathan’s throne of skeletons. Since our conversation had shifted to Jessica, I told him about what Jessica had done.
Jonathan listened calmly and nodded.
“Don’t worry, Sun. No one can understand you as much as I can, as I make a conscious effort to only think from your perspective without any personal biases.”
Trust… I regretted not trusting such a friend and believing that he was responsible for the removal of Rothschild.
Jonathan continued to talk while looking at the website on the monitor.
“The public will think that more than sixty percent of the world’s wealth has been dominated by only ten groups listed here from the Day of Advent. Then, they will condemn that the Gillian couple and I are recklessly swallowing the world.”
I interjected, “They can’t even wrap their heads around the idea that what has been uncovered so far is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Jonathan smirked, and the heavy air felt a little lighter.
“Such criticism will be focused on me as more time passes by. My official assets are forty-nine percent of the New York group, which is 8.1 trillion USD. The public will be blinded by the number that one individual possesses.”
“Then, people will start talking about John Doe, who owns fifty-one percent of the New York group, and they will realize that the Gillian couple are only our salarymen.”
“You have witnessed how the public’s strong rejection of huge capital had been expressed during ‘Occupy Wall Street.’ It is just a matter of time before the fuse ignites, and I believe this will be the point where the narrative transitions from being about groups in power to a select few individuals who hold power.”
“...”
He then sneered. “They will ignore how much you protected them and will only look at the figures in front of you. Like that girl, Jessica.”
I pointed out, “That is why this year’s club meeting called for the revival of Project Tessera.”
He smiled wryly. “But Sun, you confined that to only the Awakened.”
“And you understand why I did that?” I asked.
Jonathan shrugged. “I can say that I kind of know why you did it instead of completely agreeing with you.”
“Go on.”
“Considering the burden you are carrying… I will be honest with you. I want to unify humanity into one group and impose strong control on them. We should always keep an eye on the root of the problem to prevent it from sprouting. We need to trample on any problems immediately. Everyone should be grateful for what you have done, but Sun, I know you don’t want to make your family live in a world like that.”
I nodded. “That is right.”
“So I won’t aim my sword at such immoral and foolish people. I will keep your order itself.”
My commander, who had demonstrated unwavering strength in financial battlefields, had become a towering figure after returning from the Stage of Advent. Therefore, there could be no one more reliable than him to me.
I smiled. “Thank you, Jonathan. I will leave the mainland to you. Thanks to you, a huge burden on my shoulders is now gone.”
There was no need for a handshake.
***
I was finally able to shed a heavy burden and move forward with greater ease, enabling me to focus solely on myself.
The next destination was not the Franklin Duchy. The Empire, the mother country of the Dukedom, was a place for the Awakened to advance, but it was not for me. After confronting Doom Caso, I had determined my next destination. My decision was solidified when Yeon-Hee confirmed seeing a memory of him in Ronsius’s recollections.
That was why I chose this place. A city situated along the coast sprawled out before me, with fishing boats and seagulls adorning the ocean and forming a picturesque view. Somewhere in this vicinity lay a significant battlefield from the War of New Devil.
Let’s see.
In the absence of any urgent commands from Doom Kaos, I needed to prioritize two tasks simultaneously to maximize my efficiency and save time. One was to investigate the design of the insignia and determine its limitations, while simultaneously locating the old battlefield from the War of the New Devil and collecting all the spoils, regardless of whether they belonged to the Seven Demon Kings or the Old One.
[* Storage box]
[* Xi Wangmu's Ten Thousand Year Old Spider Egg has been removed.]
This was the gift Jonathan gave me. The actual purchaser didn’t matter.
[Time left until opening: 4 days 23 hours 14 minutes]
The item had originally belonged to an Awakened who was in the master section and was formerly associated with the Lord of Heaven’s group. Although I didn’t hear it from him directly, he might have refrained from opening it out of respect for the Lord of Heaven. Then he probably eventually decided to relinquish it due to the burden of carrying it.
[* Xi Wangmu's Ten Thousand Year Old Spider Egg has been added.]
My attention was fixated on the moment the egg vanished into another dimension, just as it had materialized in my hands. However, I didn’t experience anything out of the ordinary except for a slight twinge. It appeared that the ability to manipulate space could only be resolved through the use of the Teleportation insignia.
If I could create the teleportation skill that the Fifth Virtue had in the past, it would be useful in future battles as I wouldn’t need to exhaust the power that charged very slowly to open the gate. For instance, if I could add skills while keeping the design of the insignia...!
In other words, it would be possible to add the desired skills to complete the list. I wanted to convert the B-class Teleportation insignia and A-class The Land of Sacred Healing insignia into actual skills. In addition, I wanted to fill my remaining spots with attack skills.
Wouldn’t it be possible to further boost my ability, which is currently stagnant at the 600s of the Ender section, when I can freely handle Mana? I might be able to figure out something more about the common power.
As long as it remained unknown, the potential existed in every direction. I just had to figure out how the Old One’s had designed skills and insignias.
***
“Who are you?”
Einhell woke up late at night to a knock on the door.
“Are you Einhell?”
The visitor was covering his face with a hood. Except for the slightly awkward pronunciation, the guy appeared to be quite familiar with looking down on others. Einhell frowned, but he couldn’t close the door immediately because of that reason. The visitor could have been a member of the aristocracy, a formidable warrior, or even both.
“What brought you here?” Einhell asked.
The visitor responded, “I can do everything here with your name, Einhell.”
“That is…true, but isn’t it too late right now?”
Einhell somehow felt uneasy and looked at the street over the visitor’s shoulder. The city guards might have departed earlier to patrol a different area, which was probably why he couldn’t spot any.
“I’m looking for people familiar with old records. I want you to put the largest expedition team with them.”
“...Are you sure you have come to the right person? Those familiar with the old records are the officers, and the largest expedition party could be mistaken for a private organization. The higher-ups will never just allow them to do whatever they want. Okay? You are talking nonsense.”
His foreboding intuition had never proven to be false. During the night, an ominous stranger roused him from his sleep and began making arbitrary and unreasonable demands.
Then, the visitor took a familiar object out of his robe. It was gold. Einhell was unable to discern where the visitor had been concealing such a sizable piece of gold, which was even cumbersome to grasp with both hands, within his robe.
Despite the weight of the gold being enough to make it seem as if it would fall to the ground, the visitor’s grip was firm, and he held it as if it were a lightweight piece of paper without a tremble in his hand. Einhell now was certain that the visitor was at least a warrior in the Sword User section. The alternatively looked at the gold and the visitor with widened eyes.
“I have never paid more than a fair price, but today will be the exception. If you accept my suggestion, this will be yours, Einhell.”
“Is this a payment from good faith…?” he asked.
The visitor nodded slightly. “Of course.”
In front of his eyes, the gold bar was too large for him to resist. After a few seconds of hesitation, Einhell stretched out his hands. When the gold bar was placed in his hands, it was so heavy that he had to hold it with both hands.
However, it wasn’t the weight that shook his hands. It was for the same reason that his voice trembled.
“Please come again tomorrow morning.”
“Sure. Um…”
Although the visitor continued to speak, Einhell was preoccupied with a mixture of excitement and anxiety, rendering him unable to hear what was being said. It was only after the visitor had vanished that Einhell realized that he had mentioned how Einhell had saved the city that night.
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