Blackstone Code-Chapter 456: I Damn Well Thank You!

The money for environmental assessments and protection wasn’t coming from Lynch himself. This statement left Nail momentarily speechless. Six months ago, he was still just a worker, lacking the knowledge a capitalist would have, so he didn’t understand why Lynch said that.

Without a doubt, the money would leave Lynch’s account, but why wasn’t he the one paying?

Would someone else cover it?

A whole new world stood before him. He was just one door away from it, and he knew that once he passed through, the Nail on the other side wouldn’t be the Nail he was now.

He was anxious but didn’t know how to express it, only watching Lynch eagerly.

Lynch found his expression amusing. Actually, between fathers and sons, no matter the past grudges, wealth could heal all wounds—provided they became wealthy first.

Money gave them everything they wanted and mended the gaps poverty had created. Their relationship grew closer with their increasing wealth, just as the Federation’s educated elite said: parents are a child’s best friends.

Now, they truly were friends—a model example.

But such relationships couldn’t exist in poverty. The poorer a family became, the wider the rifts grew, sometimes turning them against each other.

Those stories on TV and in newspapers about family members being kicked out, scandals seen as moral decay, were actually about poverty—not bad morals.

Poverty forced people to focus only on surviving themselves; they couldn’t bear to support anyone else, so they did what they had to do.

The first rule of life is to survive. To survive, you need money.

Romance, love, ideals, politics—all are deeply corrupted and wounded by money.

Lynch took a slow breath, stretched lazily, and looked out the window. The dilapidated city was no longer so unpleasant, because he was sitting in a palace.

A cool breeze stirred the thin curtains hanging by the pillars. Everything felt poetic.

After a few seconds, he exhaled, relaxed completely into a pleasant state, and patiently explained.

“That money actually comes from the provincial governor, or the locals, or their Kingdom of Nagaryll’s central government—it doesn’t come from me.”

“According to our cooperation agreements, the factories we build are actually for them. The rights to these factories will eventually be handed over to the designated heirs of the Kingdom of Nagaryll.” R̃𝒶ℕ𝐨ᛒЁṡ

“Rights come with both assets and liabilities,” Lynch shrugged, “and the liabilities will be handed over too.”

“Also, this benefits our image here, which we need to emphasize. No matter what the other shareholders do, we have to do our best.”

“We want people to hear my name and the companies I’m involved with and have an immediate reaction.”

He exaggerated his tone, “Oh, I know that company! Mr. Lynch is a responsible social entrepreneur. My whole family is proud of his work!”

Father and son laughed together. Lynch was always so serious; when he loosened up, it was very relaxing.

After a while, Nail asked, “But we’re still paying for this money, right?”

Lynch shook his head. “No. You know, I’ve had deeper contact with Golden Exchange Bank. They like some of my ideas, and we’ve made some cooperation agreements. For example…”

“…I’ll increase expenses in various ways, and they’ll cover the costs!”

On a cruise ship approaching Nagaryll, George chatted with his deputy. As he looked toward the coastline on the horizon, his expression was strange.

He was smiling, but it wasn’t a happy smile—it looked like a pained or troubled one.

If he was truly suffering, his brows carried a strangely positive energy.

He didn’t know whether to thank Lynch or curse him. Last year’s performance was good, thanks to more people lacking money and loan business rising.

After defeating competing branches, voices grew louder in Sabin City and State. George might become the new president after the old one retired in four or five years.

He was young and patient. Becoming president before retirement was already impressive, far beyond what many understood as effort. Success wasn’t just about trying hard.

Even as a low-level president, it was a stepping stone to more power.

Once in that position, the path ahead was smooth and powerful.

But just as he was riding high, headquarters called him in. When he arrived, he learned it was because of his good relationship with Lynch.

Now Lynch controlled a large territory in Nagaryll, and Golden Exchange’s board felt they had to plant a flag there to maintain their vampire banker image.

Not only Lynch’s territory, but others’ as well had local leaders establishing branches.

George was sent to Nagaryll to open a branch on Lynch’s turf and serve as branch president.

Was this good news? Being sent from the Federation to a poor place like Nagaryll wasn’t exactly joyful.

But was it bad? He got the presidency years earlier than expected, which was a big deal.

He was conflicted, all because of Lynch.

He thought bitterly, it’s all that guy’s fault!

“Mr. George, about this loan…” The young man beside him snapped him out of his scattered thoughts.

George looked at the young man. Their bank staff had rented an entire floor of the cruise—clerks, security—and would soon bring armed escorts and construction materials for a local vault.

The young man was Kalse, apparently a board member’s nephew and a potential future director.

George’s smile softened. “What’s up? Don’t tell me this isn’t good for the bank?” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

The young man nodded, worried the loan’s long terms hurt expansion.

If headquarters handled it, no problem, but if the branch did, funds might be tight. This wasn’t just one loan, but many.

George glanced around; no one was paying attention. He lowered his voice with a hint of secrecy.

“I think you and I are…,” he gestured between them, “close. Don’t tell anyone this.”

The young man nodded, and George continued, “We don’t actually intend for Nagaryll to repay these loans, understand?”

“Our real goal is currency rights. The more they default, the happier headquarters and the Joint Development Company get. If I gave you a chance to buy the legal currency issuance rights for a country with 200 million people—no matter how high the price—would you take it?”

The young man’s scalp tingled. He hadn’t expected all this was behind the loan deal. It was more than just loans.

Since the formation of the Joint Development Company, the federation’s economy, which had been stagnant for years, showed signs of revival. A flood of orders poured into society, many factories on the brink of collapse began operating again, easing a lot of pressure.

This made the federation’s top officials—the president and ministers—realize something: Nagaryll was crucial to the federation’s current stage.

Put simply, the federation relied on the blood and sweat of the Nagaryll people to sustain its own population. No matter how ruthless the federation’s policies were, no one on the federation’s mainland would rise up in protest.

The president would gain more support from all social classes, corporations would find ample profits in Nagaryll, and ordinary people would gain jobs and even opportunities to work abroad.

Everything was moving in a positive direction. So why not let this situation continue longer?

To do that, political, economic, and social control over Nagaryll was necessary. Of course, the federation would never admit this openly. Instead, they would present it as international aid.

They would claim it was the federation’s voluntary assumption of international responsibilities after joining the global community—to help backward brother nations achieve economic takeoff as soon as possible.

What kind of spirit and sentiment is this?

A great spirit and a great sentiment!

Federation: It’s our duty. No need to thank us.