Darkstone Code
Chapter 181 - 0179 Black October [Part 1]

Chapter 181: 0179 Black October [Part 1]

As the vehicle passed a relief point, Lynch saw for the first time the long queue of people waiting for aid.

There are twelve relief points in Sabin City. These places are used to exchange food vouchers and supply vouchers. Simply put, people can exchange food vouchers for food and supply vouchers for some daily necessities, such as salt, small amounts of sugar, or some basic medicines and even clothes.

After all, autumn has arrived, and winter is not far away!

At the forefront of the queue were several staff members from the Social Services Bureau, along with several armed police officers with standard-issue submachine guns.

Recently, there have been more than one robbery incident targeting relief points, and food and supply vouchers have become new hard currency for the social underclass. They have replaced a portion of the currency in the market and remain very strong.

In any antique shop, or alleyway by the roadside, you can find people buying and selling food and supply vouchers. They have mastered the balance among them, making the transaction neither feel inappropriate for buying nor selling.

Lynch watched curiously as Jogriman, these elder-like individuals, were once again enchanted by their inherent desire to teach, "Have you seen that kind of food?"

Lynch turned his head and shook it, "Should I have seen it?"

Jogriman couldn’t help but laugh, "That’s definitely not a good experience. I ate it twenty or thirty years ago. Their formula hasn’t changed since then."

"Corn, potatoes, some vegetables, some meat powder and bone meal, combined and dried into something as hard as a rock." His face showed a look of reminiscence, a longing gaze. "If you want to eat it, either use a knife to scrape it into powder bit by bit and swallow it with little sips of water, or crush it and throw some into the pot to boil with water."

"In the end, you’ll get a thick soup that smells like crap!"

Lynch listened intently and then shared his view, "It doesn’t sound like a good experience."

Jogriman, reminiscent, nodded with lingering fear. "But you have to eat it!" He paused. "Actually, a lot of people say the situation now is terrible. I don’t think it’s that bad. It’s already much better than before."

"When we endured more difficult times than now, there was no reason to lose to such a small difficulty."

The stark contrast between the conspicuous luxury cars in the car stream and the poor people lining up for relief supplies at the roadside was evident. The apathetic eyes lingered on the luxury cars for less than a second before looking away. They no longer cared about these things.

Soon, the two arrived at a private establishment. Such venues basically operate on a recommendation system. Only those who are recommended and become members can have the opportunity to enter.

A strict confidentiality system makes this a top choice for many when meeting, whether or not it involves some legal issues.

After entering the agreed-upon room, Hart greeted them interactively. Within less than a month, Hart had become much more haggard than when they last met, with more gray hair.

After a brief greeting among the three, they sat on the sofa.

Hart stared at the wine glass on the table in a daze and then apologized for his distraction, "My mental state has been poor lately. Doctors have prescribed me some medications for sleep, otherwise, I’d have to drink myself to sleep!"

He spoke while showing the small medicine bottle he carried, and Lynch and Jogriman appropriately showed concern for his health.

Hart shook his head with a wry smile, "Well, let’s not discuss these things. Mr. Lynch, I thought about it seriously when I went back, and maybe you’re right."

His words seemed surprising, but Lynch was unmoved, "Business isn’t about right or wrong, only about who retreats first, and that’s you this time."

His sharp words left Hart struggling to voice his other thoughts, finally turning them into a sigh, "Shall we proceed as we discussed last time?" As Lynch nodded in agreement, he took out the floor plans of the Lakefront Villa District from his bag.

The houses already sold were marked in blue on these floor plans, and the remaining white ones were the unsold properties.

It is evident that, if not for the current crisis, he wouldn’t need to act as he does now.

The properties left in his hands would’ve become more expensive, and these empty properties continued to generate profit continuously.

The daily and long-term rentals during holidays have left him and his company, as well as those investors, very satisfied.

If previous trends continued, in another three, five, seven, or eight years, each of these houses would have become astronomical in price, with a turnover yielding dozens of times the profit.

Unfortunately, he ultimately failed, impaled by the era’s horn through his bottom, thrust far out.

Not only bleeding profusely but also looking unsightly, there’s perhaps never been a dignified humiliation.

Lynch scribbled and drew on the floor plans. Having seen the site earlier, he had a comprehensive understanding. Watching Lynch draw with changing expressions, Hart’s heart was bleeding.

After Lynch had drawn sufficiently, he briefly scanned the plans. Judging by the prices before the houses dropped in value, he had lost at least two million.

With the help of the operators of this private venue, they quickly finalized a standard contract—it’s one of the reasons why entering here requires hefty membership fees.

Every day, there are at least two lawyers on standby here, experts in state laws, ready to draft various types of legal documents at any time, including commercial transaction contracts.

Looking at the contract, Hart sighed deeply, "You won!" Saying this, he signed his name, as if something extracted from his body at that moment.

Lynch also signed, marking the completion of this transaction.

After exchanging the land for Hart’s properties, Lynch had a hint of a smile on his face. Although these plots hadn’t turned into cash, the value of the houses obtained from Hart far surpassed the value of cash.

At least cash appreciates slowly, but houses can quickly increase in value, especially in such scenic villa areas, where the value becomes greater.

After signing the contract, Hart didn’t stay long and left in a hurry without even having dinner. In his words, he had to let those investors and shareholders know he wasn’t idle—he was already on his way.

"He’s a good person!" Watching Harry depart, Jogriman commented wistfully.

During their acquaintance, Hart was one of the few honest merchants.

Lynch merely smiled, not extending the topic.

Everything proceeded methodically and slowly. A few days later, the tall and slender man couldn’t withstand the pressure and finally agreed to Lynch’s request to invest in the Interstellar Trade Company with at least a thirty-three percent cash ratio.

However, they had changed their original plan, no longer requiring a majority equity stake, choosing instead to invest with ten percent equity under a collective name like the merchants in Curilan City, while simultaneously signing a supplementary agreement guaranteeing priority rights to increase their stake in future financing.

The appearance of Interstellar Trade Company and second-hand product auctions in more cities brought more people to focus on Lynch and his company. He seemed to have gradually stepped onto a broader stage.

On the first trading day of the first week of October, a thirty-something young man dressed in mainstream high-end brand formal attire walked into the main hall of the Bupen Yikou Exchange with a briefcase.

People like him were seen everywhere in Bupen daily. On the streets, at least seven out of ten men dressed this way—they were Bupen’s most important foundation, various financial brokers.

Yet this broker’s face showed little joy, facing a massive problem. One of his agents had barged into his home yesterday, holding his wife and daughter hostage, demanding he quickly cash out the foreign bonds he had previously persuaded them to purchase.

Capital is never merciful—warnings of increased risk concerning foreign bonds had appeared more than once in the Trade Report, albeit often inconspicuously.

It’s akin to a report stating aliens have invaded the planet, the world is ending, and, incidentally, a street’s sewer is blocked.

People focus on the former message. Compared to the increased exchange risk of bonds, other risk warnings deserve more attention.

At this point, some institutions began quietly commissioning brokers to resell these hard-to-liquidate bonds, with banks leading the way.

According to the issuing country’s promise, each dollar’s face value of bonds could eventually be cashed out for a dollar seventy-five cents. Some bonds even reached one to two overpricing.

Logically, these bonds should be in short supply, and no excess shares would exist in the market, but mysteriously, trading of this bond type in the securities market became frequent.

With nations as the issuer’s guarantor, it’s deemed very reliable by ordinary people.

They knew some people’s words were unreliable like farting, especially those capitalists, even banks, but never heard of countries deceiving people—particularly deceiving so many.

Amidst relatively closed information, blind investors at the bottom began to show interest in these types of bonds under brokers’ persuasion. The trading volume of bonds skyrocketed, and prices unexpectedly began to rise.

Until last weekend’s closing before situation dramatically deteriorated!

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