Darkstone Code
Chapter 192 - 0190 Evaporation

Chapter 192: 0190 Evaporation

"This is Mr. Lynch..."

Manson entered the room with a guy carrying a briefcase. With the backing of the Bupen Grand Hotel suite, everyone who entered here seemed more respectful.

Perhaps it was because Lynch could still bring out money today, or it might be for the sake of the hotel.

The guy who came in was wearing very high-end formal attire, although it gave the impression that it hadn’t been carefully maintained for a while.

Every piece of quality clothing requires careful care; some even need specialized manual handling. These clothes are no stronger than babies and require suitable temperature and even humidity for storage.

He sat down cautiously, a somewhat ingratiating smile on his face, fearing he might displease Lynch. He then placed the briefcase in front of him on the coffee table between the two and opened it.

Inside, neatly stacked war bonds emitted a "scent" like cash; it was the smell of special dyes.

Manson stood aside and introduced, "A total of 1.2 million bonds, with a face value of 3.7%..."

The largest denomination of these bonds is one hundred, and the smallest is five. The hundred denomination is mainly for institutions to subscribe, while the smaller denominations are for ordinary people.

But regardless of whether they were for institutions or ordinary individuals, they ultimately lost their original value.

Lynch casually picked up a stack; this wasn’t his first time handling these bonds, but he enjoyed the unique feeling.

In another world, the concept of money had been reduced to just a number. It was like some science fiction novels here, in the future people no longer need to carry money, some terrifying scientific organism could complete various transactions and deduct or add digits in accounts.

This had become a reality in another world, where money was indeed just numbers, and Lynch hadn’t touched cash in the latter half of his life; he even forgot what it felt like to hold money.

At this moment, the stack of bonds in his hands gave him a sense of satisfaction, security, and fullness that he had never experienced before!

The heavy texture and the embossed printing left a wavy texture that made it feel very much like real money. The way bonds and currency are manufactured are essentially the same, and the anti-counterfeiting methods are basically the same too.

These bonds are probably twenty centimeters long and fifteen centimeters wide, looking as exquisite as a piece of art.

After flipping through a few pages, he casually tossed them back and looked at Vera beside him.

After quickly calculating the amount Lynch needs to pay, Vera wrote a number on Lynch’s transfer check, which he signed and then pushed across the table.

The person across the table showed a somewhat odd expression upon seeing the check; it was a look of relief because the bond market was becoming increasingly poor, and everyone was worried that they might really turn into worthless paper.

But there was also a sense of discomfort. The bonds cost him a lot when he originally bought them, and if his funds weren’t desperately tight, forcing him to sell everything he could, he wouldn’t have sold these bonds.

Deep down, he still felt that there might be a chance to turn things around.

There wasn’t much communication between the two. After Lynch shook hands with the other party, Manson escorted the person out.

And Lynch put the bonds aside.

"How much money do we still have?"

Vera looked at the notebook in her hand and gave an accurate answer, "One million seven hundred eighty-four thousand five hundred twenty-five dollars."

Lynch sat back down on the sofa, somewhat complaining, "Slower than I expected, I thought it would be faster."

Vera didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure how to, since sometimes Lynch was speaking not to others but to himself. Vera recently discovered this.

Only by being with someone day in and day out can you discover things you’d normally miss. She found it interesting; few people interject a couple of self-directed remarks in a conversation with others, making dialogue hard to continue.

At first, she didn’t know whether to speak or how to, but over the past few days, she’d learned how to handle it.

A moment later, Manson returned after seeing off his client; he had come to collect his reward.

No one in the world helps others for no reason; every action has some form of motivation driving it, though some motivations are apparent, and some are less easy to recognize.

Manson’s motivation to help Lynch had nothing to do with Jogriman, but it was connected to the money in Lynch’s pocket.

According to the agreement between Lynch and Manson, two percent of the cash transaction amount will be Manson’s personal intermediary fee. For instance, this transaction amounted to forty-four thousand four hundred dollars, and he would gain eight hundred eighty-eight dollars.

After flicking the freshly written check, Manson was satisfied with Lynch’s straightforwardness; he wasn’t like some other employers who sometimes wanted to dock a bit, like removing the cents.

With Lynch, even if it’s just a dollar or a few cents, he wouldn’t deduct them. He is a serious person, which makes Manson feel very comfortable.

Lynch pointed to the sofa across from him. After Manson put away the check, he sat down, "Our purchasing speed is too slow now; I think it’s time to speed up this process. I can’t stay here too long."

Manson furrowed his brow slightly, "There are relatively few people holding massive amounts of bonds. Some people are not planning to sell their bonds, at least not at our prices."

This kind of person remains the mainstream among large holders. As long as they don’t urgently need cash in the short term, they can wait.

Lynch nodded noncommittally and offered another perspective, "Perhaps we can obtain these bonds from the hands of ordinary bondholders."

Manson’s brow furrowed slightly. Acquiring these bonds from retail investors is indeed a very effective method. Compared to a few major players in the market, the bonds held by retail investors are the main force.

"But these scattered bonds will cause us a lot of trouble. We might not have any time to rest all day long!"

Lynch smiled at Manson, "Three point eight percent; I don’t care how much you pay to acquire them, I will only recycle them at three point eight percent. Deal?"

Initially, Manson told Lynch that specifying the price for war bonds might exceed his initial estimate. But nobody expected that after a few consecutive days, the situation turned out much better than they imagined, or rather the market turned worse than expected.

Some international news began reporting on Bail Federal’s financial disaster, and the Federation’s industrial index had been halved in four days and continued to find no support.

All stocks were shrinking, and the entire Federation’s financial market had evaporated by billions. Last year, the GDP published by the Federation was just eighteen hundred seventy-nine billion; the financial disaster could be said to have directly wiped out most of the wealth created by Bail Federal in the past year!

This also prompted some who were still observing to start selling their bonds, but the market is dynamic.

When the situation turns sour, the price is bound to be suppressed; you don’t even need to suppress it; those who urgently need cash will start to shake up the prices.

Besides the issues in the financial market, some newspapers began deeper reporting on the unprecedented cause of the financial tsunami. These reports directly pointed fingers at the current ruling party and the President’s Cabinet.

They further accused that the disaster was foreseeable since July, but the President’s Cabinet’s incompetence in diplomacy led to people helplessly watching this disaster unfold.

There’s even a rumor circulating the market that Bail Federal might be involved in the next major war and might not be able to remain neutral!

Under various factors of political turmoil, financial calamity, and international struggles, the bonds held by bondholders in the Federation turned increasingly worthless.

Manson pondered for a while. If he were to purchase himself, he could drive the price even lower, and thinking of this, he was tempted; money, or wealth, is the primary motivation for people’s work and life.

"I can give it a try, but I cannot guarantee it will be completed quickly..."

After they shook hands in agreement, Manson didn’t leave immediately but brought up another matter, "Lynch, you know I have many friends around here. Some of my work can’t escape everyone’s notice."

After Lynch nodded, Manson continued, "Some people noticed that I’ve been working for you these past couple of days. Someone suggested that all the acquirers should gather together, partly to avoid potential conflicts later and partly to prepare for some matters."

Manson already had an idea of Lynch’s intentions, and those purchasing bonds against the trend mostly shared the same thought. Since everyone had the same goal, why not sit down and talk; maybe there’s a chance for collaboration in the future.

They didn’t know Lynch, and sending an invitation directly to him seemed abrupt and reckless, so they entrusted the task to Manson.

Lynch had no reason to refuse, just like everyone thought; when their goals align, why not work together?

Executing such a big project isn’t something that can be completed casually; it requires the effort of many people.

After Lynch agreed, Manson left. He needed to arrange the funding for purchasing bonds from retail investors, which would actually be easier than he imagined.

The logic is simple; those who can spend hundreds of thousands in cash to buy hundreds of thousands in bonds can sell some assets to sustain themselves for a while.

But those who spend thousands or tens of thousands to buy bonds often have no way out.

Even a hundred dollars might be a lifeline for these people!

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