The president of the Royal Bank took a small sip from his coffee cup.

The rich taste and strong bitterness carried a unique aroma—not sweet, but purely fragrant, from the oils.

He set down the cup. “Opening an account is no problem; one phone call solves it. The second request is also fine. As for financing…” He paused thoughtfully. “How much are you asking for?”

What’s difficult for most is trivial before power.

For example, opening a trading account: for an ordinary person, it requires multiple procedures and takes three to five days.

For the Royal Bank president, it’s just a phone call.

This is Gephra’s power—the force equivalent to the Federation’s capital!

The financing request was the tricky part. Lynch’s war bonds were promised redeemed by the Emperor, written in a formal contract, and the Empire’s current policy avoided escalating conflict with the Federation. So, confirmed commitments wouldn’t change.

Lynch held over 40 million Gael in bonds. Using 20 million as margin for financing wouldn’t yield much from the bank.

Gephra’s homeland was desperately short on cash because a large amount of capital was flowing into Amellia; local development potential was exhausted.

Though dissatisfied with the Emperor’s decisions, everyone knew where the next focus was. So, local banks being short on funds was normal.

Requesting financing now was complicated; the president threw the problem back to Lynch.

“Ten times leverage…”

“Impossible!”

Before Lynch could say more, the president interrupted. “Ten times is too much. Two billion Gael is enormous. I can approve at most double.”

“In fact, since last year, the Empire passed a new law—you might not know…”

When the Federation used advanced financial methods to exploit Nagaryll, it scared the Gephra nobles despite their excitement.

Federation capital was terrifying, easily enabling all-around plunder of Nagaryll. Paranoid nobles worried—what if Gephra got targeted too?

Currency fluctuations are market behavior, and markets can be manipulated. Dangerous!

So, on the Privy Council’s proposal, Gephra passed the Imperial Financial Prevention Act. Its core was controlling foreign capital, including limiting foreigners’ financial activities on native soil.

Large loans and cash borrowing require multiple reviews, often not approved.

Lynch’s financing request fell under this regulation, and two billion was huge—enough to devastate local financial order.

After briefly explaining the law, Lynch frowned. “Cut it in half—five times leverage.”

“That’s still too much. I can approve the amount but can’t decide the review timeline.”

“The Financial Supervision Office in the Treasury needs to review; it might take 30 to 45 days, and approval isn’t guaranteed.”

“One billion Gael could crush many small and medium enterprises. You’re good at defending against such risks. We have to be cautious.”

The president was frank—it was to guard against the Federation. His honesty left no room to argue.

“How much can you approve at most?” Lynch asked again.

A smile appeared in the president’s eyes. “Double. I can approve that directly, no review needed, bank assumes the risk.”

Forty million Gael could be covered by public opinion and bank margin, possibly without even using the margin. Just tell the public it’s a Federation conspiracy, and local retail investors would aggressively target Lynch.

“Triple, or I’ll raise funds another way.”

Other ways meant offshore inflows or swaps, which could be illegal or require money laundering—costly and risky.

But the advantage was freedom from national regulation. No one could track every transaction every second. Large laundering operations could hide huge pools of money.

That was dangerous, because the money was invisible until problems erupted.

After careful thought, the president nodded. “Alright, 1:3 leverage.”

Though high, the funds were controllable; he could clearly see what Lynch needed the money for and prepare accordingly.

If it was normal investment, he’d ignore it; if not, he could take preventive measures.

Having been candid, he glanced at the time—around 3:30. They hadn’t discussed much, but time passed quickly.

Lynch ate half a cloyingly sweet pastry, finished his coffee, and stood to leave.

The president summoned staff to process Lynch’s paperwork. As a special approval, Lynch’s trading account was opened and funded within half an hour.

Looking at the money in his account, Lynch smiled.

Later, the bank informed the Treasury Minister, who passed it on to other ministers. Everyone was puzzled about Lynch’s intentions.

Even the Emperor found out.

“What do you think he wants?” the Emperor asked, troubled, looking at his ministers.

They didn’t answer immediately. Lynch was their most mysterious figure—not like past Federation capitalists who followed patterns and rules. His actions were unpredictable and seemingly chaotic, yet often surprising.

The ministers shook their heads, unwilling to guess.

Being right wouldn’t bring honor; Lynch was just a young Federation merchant, while they were pillars of the Gephra Empire.

Being wrong would cause shame, and guessing was difficult. They all stayed silent, waiting for someone else to speak first.

The Emperor, annoyed by the silence but powerless, suddenly asked, “Where is Lynch now?”

Perhaps some clues could be found from his itinerary. Now that he has his account and funds, shouldn’t he be preparing for something?

An aide quickly answered the Emperor, “Your Majesty, Lynch is currently… helping some girls improve their lives.”

The Emperor looked at the servant as if hearing something unbelievable. His lips moved before he asked, “Alone?”

“Yes, alone.”

At that moment, Lynch sat inside the largest nightclub in the imperial capital. Because of legalized solicitation, the club had guards at the entrance, barring minors.

In Gephra, adulthood meant age twenty.

Sitting in the most luxurious private room, Lynch was surrounded by girls too poor to afford clothes, desperately needing help.

Two girls danced energetically on a small stage in the room’s center.

In this place of decadence, perhaps only here did the gap between the Federation and Gephra narrow.

He was waiting. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Waiting for Richard.

Whenever a girl tried to get close to Lynch or linger nearby, someone stopped her.

Helping these girls didn’t necessarily mean anything physical—simply paying for their company was enough for them to buy nice clothes. They were just there to set the atmosphere.

After a while, several sharply dressed men entered. Richard led them.

His face showed no arrogance, only a humble smile. He paused briefly at seeing Lynch, then quickly approached. “Boss…”

Lynch looked up and shook his head. “I’m not your boss. I told you, we were only partners.” He extended his hand, shaking Richard’s, then glanced at the others.

These men came from the Federation, all formerly on Richard’s team, also Lynch’s partners. Their reunion was somewhat awkward.

After all, they had once conspired to siphon money from Lynch’s pocket to theirs and got caught, effectively exiled to Gephra.

Meeting again still felt uneasy.

“Mr. Lynch…”

They greeted him and sat, not worthy to shake his hand.

Lynch sat with Richard; the others spread out far away.

“I saw the papers as soon as I arrived. Congratulations. It says Harmony will be listed tomorrow.” He opened a cigarette pack on the table and took one out. Richard immediately lit it for him.

He inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, “Whatever happened between us before, right now, we’re all Federation people in the Gephra Empire.”

“Tomorrow, I’ve got your back. I’ll put one hundred million into the market. Are your shares enough?”

Richard’s heart raced wildly. One hundred million. He swallowed hard.

His pounding heart left him dry-mouthed. Looking at Lynch, his eyes reddened from the sudden blood pressure spike. “Enough. More than enough!”