Blackstone Code-Chapter 434: The Big Contract

Prosperity Bank was a legendary institution founded by a group of gold prospectors. The first wave of immigrants arrived in the federation mainly due to exile, expulsion, or poverty, forced to venture into this new land. Many of them began as gold miners, unlike noble families like the Aginel clan or wealthy merchants. Most ordinary people lacked the resources to establish farms or ranches, so they searched for gold and gems in remote areas.

At that time, before the formation of the Baylor Federation, lawlessness prevailed—bullets were the only truth. When prospectors discovered gold mines, they would find nearby water sources to pan for gold or start mining. If they found nothing, they targeted other prospectors, ranchers, or lone travelers.

Nowadays, many people condemn the Federation’s indiscriminate slaughter of natives as immoral, but in reality, they also killed many of their own people.

Some thrived on chaos, others hated it. In this lawless era, a group of prospectors formed organized transport teams to protect their gold and wealth from thieves.

They also set up secure vaults in towns—precursors to modern banks—to store the gold they had painstakingly acquired.

As more people joined, the group grew, primarily because it felt safe. Armed and fearless, they attracted merchants who valued their reliability. At times, one could see twenty or thirty armed riders surrounding horse-drawn wagons in the wilderness.

It was at this time that the largest faction of the group, led by prospector Shock Born, founded Prosperity Bank in the present-day Midwestern city of Sairmalin.

Initially, Prosperity’s main business was storing precious metals and armed escort services. Their reputation grew, and during their peak, almost all prospectors in the federation stored their belongings in Prosperity’s vaults. It was a wild era—everything was built from scratch—but it was also the best time for ambitious men.

Today, banks like Prosperity and Golden Exchange have reached a scale where rapid leaps forward are difficult. As Karl told Lynch earlier, turning ten Sol into a hundred is easy for a successful businessman—even salesmen like Lime can manage it. But doubling tens of thousands, millions, or billions quickly is nearly impossible.

Still, the pursuit of profit continues.

The contract Lynch holds, after thorough review by the bank’s accountants and strategists, represents potentially limitless wealth. It’s essentially a fraudulent contract. When Karl’s colleague first saw it, he quietly voiced his skepticism.

The contract, signed between the governor of Magulana and Lynch, covers road and transportation infrastructure across the entire province, including city road upgrades. It also covers infrastructure like at least two hydroelectric and three thermal power plants, numerous public facilities, and the installation of an improved communications cable system by Lynch.

There is no budget cap—Lynch can continue projects indefinitely. As long as the projects meet agreed standards, the Nagaryll government must pay Lynch’s costs plus profit for completed work.

Obviously, no province could afford to pay Lynch enough to rebuild one or several modern cities outright. Lynch would lend them money and charge interest.

If the province can’t pay, Lynch has multiple methods to recover his loans and profits, some of which are quite alarming.

For example, Lynch’s contract allows him to form a department to help the local government legally and efficiently collect taxes from citizens. Aside from funding the government’s daily expenses, any surplus tax revenue would go directly to Lynch.

Also, Lynch gains dual-track pricing rights on most regional goods—protecting locals’ daily needs but maximizing profits from foreign trade, with authority to set prices on imported goods.

In short, this contract should never have existed. No reasonable ruler would sign it. Yet it does.

If federal ties with Nagaryll hadn’t been strengthening, Karl and his colleagues might have considered Lynch a fraud. But given their knowledge of Nagaryll and Lynch’s status, influence, and network, Karl eventually accepted the contract’s authenticity—though with reservations.

“May I ask how you got this contract signed?” Karl asked, reluctant to let go of it but placing it on the table.

It was Lynch’s prize; without his approval, it was just paper to Karl.

Lynch shook his head. “Sorry, that’s core business secrecy. But I guarantee it’s real.”

Karl nodded. The bank’s handwriting expert confirmed the signatures matched those of Drag’s governor on diplomatic documents.

Now the question wasn’t authenticity but how Lynch had pulled it off.

If a consortium like Mr. Wadrick’s or Mr. Patric’s had this contract, it would be expected—they had the financial power to back any endeavor. Lynch clearly was not such a man. Ｒ𝓪ℕо𝔟ΕŞ

He sighed lightly. “You know, banking rules are complicated—we all hate them. They make us dizzy but protect us from harm.”

“We need someone to meet privately with Drag’s governor to confirm the contract’s existence. Is that possible?”

Karl didn’t really need Lynch’s permission but asked out of respect—for Lynch and for the money.

He knew Lynch couldn’t fund city rebuilding alone. So Karl was eager to facilitate cooperation between Lynch and Golden Exchange Bank.

This would bring the bank millions in interest and greater influence.

As the facilitator, Karl would gain the board’s favor and permission to increase his stock holdings.

In major corporations and conglomerates, share transactions are precise down to several decimal places and require board approval.

Holding even a 0.1% stake in any of the Big Six banks was a fortune.

After Lynch’s confirmation, Karl smiled and said, “So, let’s talk about what interests us. How many times leverage do you want?”

Lynch crossed his legs and rested his hands naturally on his knees. “At least fifty times, and you can’t force a liquidation.”

Fifty times…

That was no small number. Karl furrowed his brow.

Lynch’s funds probably totaled around seven to eight million. Using eight million as a baseline, fifty times meant four hundred million.

Too much.

The key point was Lynch’s demand that the bank not forcibly liquidate. A 10% swing on four hundred million meant forty million—a loss the bank would struggle to absorb.

But then he thought of that contract…

“This price far exceeds my expectations. Mr. Lynch, even Golden Exchange would find it extremely difficult to mobilize hundreds of millions quickly. And you know…” He gestured with his arm to emphasize, “The federal government wants us to push credit systems. Nowadays, outsiders don’t even need collateral to get money from us.”

“I can approve eighteen… no, nineteen times leverage. Adding your own share, that makes a whole number. Everyone likes whole numbers, right?” Karl smiled.

Federals liked whole numbers because they were easier to calculate—but the issue at hand had nothing to do with ease of arithmetic.