Darkstone Code-Chapter 692 - 0689 Good people won’t have bad luck

Upon hearing Lynch’s playful teasing, Lime grew even more anxious.

"Boss, help me out, if those people find out their money is all frozen, they’ll tear me apart!"

Loss and freezing are two distinct situations. Many investors involved in finance, especially those long-term experienced ones, are willing to take some risks. Before they put money into a foundation or financial company’s account, they sign a contract.

This contract has some strict requirements, such as what to do in case of a loss after establishing a position, what to do with further losses, what to do when reaching the stop-loss line, and how to ensure the security of these funds.

They will acknowledge that their funds may shrink to some degree by the end of the contract period. This is very normal; no one can ensure that every investment is profitable.

However, they will never agree to their funds being completely frozen. This is no joke; it’s almost no different from total annihilation. Strictly speaking, they have the right to demand compensation from the foundation or financial company based on the conditions after the maximum stop-loss. Of course, they would have to sign a memorandum of understanding and a transfer agreement before that.

If both parties can’t reach an agreement, they’ll settle it through the judiciary. But whether it’s settled privately or through legal proceedings, for Lime at this moment, it’s a disaster!

Because either way, it’s something he can’t afford to bear.

He can’t come up with that much money privately, and going through legal proceedings won’t work either; he might not even be able to afford the exorbitant lawyer fees.

According to the usual practice of those vampires in Bupen, if they win the case, they charge at least fifteen to twenty-five percent of the total case amount as attorney fees. Even if they lose, they would still take three to seven percent.

Win or lose, he might not even be able to come up with the lawyer fees.

By then, only bankruptcy would be on the table!

After working so hard for so many years and finally seeing some change in his life, he no longer wants to see Bupen at five in the morning. He doesn’t want to lose; he wants to "stay," no matter what.

"I can’t help you, Lime, I’m powerless in this matter," Lynch’s voice remained unchanged, without any unnecessary emotion. He had seen too much love and hate; it’s just bankruptcy, just starting over, and he didn’t think much of it.

Only those with strong hearts won’t be knocked down by this world, while for those with fragile hearts, this world becomes their enemy.

"I beg you, boss, I’m really out of options."

"I know I was wrong, I should’ve listened to you. This will be the last time, save me, I feel like I can barely breathe..."

Lynch couldn’t help but laugh, "Your mentality is still immature, Lime. Actually, I think this setback is good for you. You’ve lived through the hard times, but you haven’t tried this feeling of falling from a great height—thrilling, exciting, and deadly."

"And then ’bang’, shattering into pieces when you hit the ground."

"You haven’t experienced this feeling, so you can’t become as cautious as I am, nor can you learn reverence. But since you’ve been performing decently, I’ll give you a chance."

Lynch’s words were like a lifeline for a drowning person. Lime felt immense gratitude instantly, "Thank you so much, boss, you’ve saved me!"

"Don’t thank me yet. I can’t get all your earnings plus your principal back; I can only return part of the principal, fifty percent, no more."

"You know, it’s not easy to do even that."

Lime, who initially wanted to fight for more, abandoned his idea, "I understand, boss, so roughly... when?"

"Within this year, wait for my news. As for your clients, you need to handle them yourself. If necessary, you can take out a loan. Any other matters?"

...

After hanging up the phone, Lynch shook his head. He hadn’t planned to deal with this matter, since he had already made his money. But just at the last moment of the call, he suddenly had a flash of insight, sparking some new ideas.

Why is it that two equally outstanding people have such different outcomes—one is exceptionally excellent, while the other is just so ordinary, lacking confidence?

This is the power of thinking.

Perhaps this isn’t a very accurate way to put it; it’s just a momentary spark of inspiration, and such unreliable sparks destroy a hundred percent of the efforts of ninety-nine percent of people.

After pondering his idea for a bit, Lynch picked up the phone and dialed Mr. Wardrick’s number.

There was still that annoying manual redirect. Federation Telegraph and Telecommunications seemed unwilling to sell the patent worldwide, or at least hadn’t thought about doing so yet.

After more than two minutes, the call went through.

This was a private call, so Mr. Wardrick answered it immediately. Important figures like him usually have at least three phones on their desks.

One of the more commonly used ones is the secretary’s phone; calls are first screened by the secretary or secretariat before they may be transferred to Mr. Wardrick.

The second one is for the company’s high-level executives and board members; only senior executives of the company can dial this number, and its ringing often signifies communication issues among the company’s top management.

The third one is the private phone. Many board directors don’t even know the number, but only those recognized by Mr. Wardrick have it.

"This is Wardrick..."

"It’s me, Lynch."

"What’s the matter?" Mr. Wardrick waved his hand, indicating for the secretary at the door to leave his room and close the door.

He then got up and walked to the small bar counter, poured himself a drink, taking this opportunity to relax with the incoming call.

Lynch didn’t immediately get to the point but chatted a bit instead, "You sound like you’re doing well recently?" Before, Mr. Wardrick tried to get closer to him—not in a romantic way, but to encourage him to pursue Severa, though Lynch refused.

Yet, the intention to appear closer persisted, so a bit more chitchat made both of them feel like their relationship was better, even able to chat some nonsense. Isn’t that a sign of a close relationship?

They are both very busy people, being able to spare time for idle chit-chat just proves it.

Mr. Wardrick laughed heartily, "Indeed, I just spent a significant amount increasing my shares. Although the chance to challenge the presidency is slim, I am quite content."

Even before the shareholders’ meeting of the board, Mr. Wardrick knew the outcome, which was quite normal.

Many major shareholders and chairmen in the board don’t want the executive president of the consortium to also be the chairman of the board; dual authority concentrated in one person would overly inflate Mr. Wardrick’s power and status within the consortium.

This isn’t in the best interest of other shareholders. Don’t see them as a united body; they are often opponents internally.

Failing to achieve it was expected, especially since he gained the bulk of stocks that were compensated, which also means losing the right to enter the presidency.

He could take it philosophically; even if he couldn’t gain the title of board chairman now, his actual status was not far from the chairman, just missing some powers that belong solely to the chairman.

He was very satisfied with this outcome.

Lynch pursed his lips and continued, "I heard that the electric company was delisted and went bankrupt. What are you planning to do?"

"Your question is strange. I thought you wouldn’t care about this issue!" Mr. Wardrick keenly sensed something was different. Actually, the electric company and new patents held no more value to Lynch now.

Gafura declared Amelia an "Empire Special Zone," and everything within the Special Zone would be completely different from the home country, with entirely new rules.

In these descriptions, they also invited foreign merchants to invest, paving the way for Lynch and others to invest in the past.

Whatever the Governor did, he couldn’t arbitrarily change or trample on the Emperor of the Empire’s words without it being treason.

But Lynch suddenly asking made him smell something unusual, "Is there something good happening?"

He said it jokingly, indeed a joke, but also probing.

This time, Lynch didn’t engage in pleasantries, directly hitting the core, "If I can make Soron sign a memorandum of understanding with you that nullifies the threat of the penalty, would that be beneficial to you?"

The smile on Mr. Wardrick’s face vanished immediately. He didn’t answer right away but stood up seriously, walked to the desk to get a cigar, lit it, then walked back to the sofa with the phone and a drink.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Don’t worry about how I’ll do it, I only have one question: if I can do it, will it be beneficial for you? I want the truth."

"Of course!" Mr. Wardrick quickly confirmed with a big nod, "We initially budgeted no less than ten million to fight this case. If Soron holds tight, this budget may increase to fifty million or even a hundred million."

"If you can get Soron and us to reach a consensus to nullify the penalty, we can save that much money and a lot of resources and face..."

Spending tens of millions to a hundred million to save nine hundred million in penalties is indeed a good method. The method is actually straightforward, just keep dragging the lawsuit—to twenty years without settlement, no more court sessions, effectively dragging it to an end.

This involves a lot of manpower and resources and impacts social image since refusing to pay isn’t something positive. PR costs are also an expense.

Lynch was still rather unpolite, "I don’t want to know what you all can do; I just want to know what you can do?"

"I can be included in the Consortium Board Presidency..."