Darkstone Code-Chapter 734 - 0732 Truth

The Empire’s financial market, silent throughout the night, became bustling again, and the entire trading floor was packed with people.

People kept filling out trade slips or gesturing various insider hand signals to the traders on the trading desks upstairs, particularly busy.

Everyone’s attention focused on the upper left corner of the trading bulletin board, where Yuanrong Capital was fixed in a special position—it wouldn’t flip periodically but simply displayed the current price.

Two dollars and fifty cents, no change, but everyone knew that this figure would change soon.

To ensure a good performance at its listing, Richard took the lead in signing agreements with organizations specializing in pushing up prices. They would invest at least thirty million, up to fifty million today.

Added to their own subscriptions and the nobles’ subscriptions, within no more than half an hour, the price would flip.

The first to move were the priority trading desks. The Gafura Empire also used the trading desk system, having trading qualifications only through them, and it had priority desks, similar to the Federation.

Ordinary investors often wondered why, when they traded stocks alongside wealthy people, they were the ones usually losing out?

In fact, aside from insider information advantages, purely in transaction speed, a hundred ordinary investors couldn’t compete with one wealthy person.

Ordinary investors lacked the qualifications to use priority trading desks, meaning they had to queue, waiting for prior transactions to complete before theirs were handled.

But wealthy people and nobles were entirely different; they traded via priority desks, instantly matching their sales when everyone was selling while ordinary people’s stocks remained unsold.

They posted a $10 price to sell, and by the time it’s their turn, it might have dropped to $9.50; the trade was rejected, then they post $9, but by their turn, it gets rejected again.

Ordinary investors were harvested not due to luck but purely "technical" reasons.

At this moment, a trader at the Royal Exchange’s priority trading desk picked up the phone and froze for a second. In such a noisy environment, he loudly repeated a message. Everyone fell silent momentarily, so even those further away heard a number.

"Yuanrong’s eighty million buy-in..."

Eighty million—here at the core of the Gafura Empire, this amount was calculated using ’Fla’ currency units; such a heavy purchase instantly put a look of excitement on some traders’ faces.

Almost instantaneously, people resumed their bustle. Just then, some grabbed their phones and dialed numbers, "I have insider news, someone invested a billion into Yuanrong..."

"It moved!"

At nine forty-seven, the number following Yuanrong Capital jumped from two dollars and fifty cents to two dollars sixty-one cents, then two dollars sixty-five cents.

Everyone cheered excitedly—it took merely a dozen minutes to fully clear out the issued stocks, which meant billions were invested into Yuanrong Capital’s stocks!

Richard excitedly waved his fist, succeeded.

The exchange supervisor opened a bottle of champagne at a venue set aside for events, "Mr. Richard, Yuanrong Capital has broken the fastest sales record on the Main Island in history; you’ve created new history!"

A single sentence stirred excitement—created new history!

The words were almost magical, enchanting everyone.

"Thank you!" Richard took a wine glass; others around him raised theirs too. He lifted it high and looked around, "We’re number one!"

Two dollars seventy cents...

Three dollars four cents...

Five dollars...

Six dollars!

Miracle!

"Yuanrong Capital’s Assets Double in a Day"

"Richard Becomes Empire’s New Financial Magnate"

"Yuanrong Capital’s Fastest Sale Breaks Historical Record"

Countless media outlets sent congratulations to Richard and his Yuanrong Capital that day; even all physical stores of Yuanrong Jewelry launched a new round of promotions.

Each holder of ten thousand Yuanrong Gold Certificates could enjoy a two percent discount on Gold purchases, with a maximum of seventy percent off (not exceeding the total value of the certificates)!

People went nearly mad—this was like giving away money. All Yuanrong Jewelry stores instantly overcrowded with customers holding Gold Certificates. Large amounts of Gold inventory were sold, making people’s eyes turn red.

Some went as far as buying large amounts of Yuanrong Gold Certificates to purchase Gold cheaper.

At that moment, Richard booked Prince Wilson’s castle, turning it into a venue of celebration and revelry.

"I want you to send over all the high-quality girls you can find, immediately—my guests don’t have that much time to wait for you!"

"If you can do it, bring the people and settle the bill; if not, hang up the phone..."

"I need to exchange for a million in change, one-dollar bills—no, two million, yes, sent to Prince Wilson’s castle, quickly!"

"We have a celebration at Prince Wilson’s castle... Yes, you guessed it right, so we need a few celebrities to liven things up here. Money is not a problem..."

One young person after another was frantically making calls in the room, while Richard sat at the nearby vanity, subjected to the makeup artist’s ministrations.

Tonight, there would be an unprecedented celebration, and he planned to spend five million to orchestrate this event.

If it were in the Federation, doing this would clearly be inappropriate, as the Federation’s citizens would push him to the peak of public opinion.

But in Gafura, such things become normal; those great nobles have accumulated wealth over generations, enough for them to squander money in various bizarre ways. Even if this celebration is degenerate and lavish, people wouldn’t find it too strange.

Before long, the bank was the first to send money, and employees stuffed rolls of banknotes into balloons, inflating them. These would be used tonight, or put into some gift boxes.

Soon, luxurious buses arrived outside the castle, and one adorned girl after another stepped off the bus, walking into the castle with charming smiles.

There were also those celebrities, invited guests, and reporters who spontaneously formed a "line of defense" outside the castle, absolutely not letting any arriving guests slip by. It was bustling as if it were a grand fair!

And at that very moment, over a thousand kilometers away, several armed militants, fully equipped in bulletproof vests, approached a gold mine under the guidance of a local tour guide.

"This has stopped mining for many years, about four or five years ago, it ceased to yield valuable gold, then was abandoned."

"However, some time ago, a boss came along who deemed that there’s still value in digging deeper, so he bought it."

The tour guide’s words were blunt, his face displaying a mocking sneer.

This area once had plenty of gold mines, but as extraction continued, some small and medium-sized mines have ceased production, leaving only two large mines still being mined.

Mines like the one abandoned near him are common locally. When it was first discarded, he took his family to try mining, but the yields were disappointing.

Eventually, no one attempted to dig further, it was completely "dead," devoid of any mining value.

Yet not long ago, it resumed production and reportedly there was yield.

It’s essentially a joke.

"Are there still people mining below now?" asked the leader.

The guide instinctively glanced at the weapon in his hand, shaking his head, "No, this is a dead mine. Though I don’t know why someone bought it, obviously, that person isn’t foolish..."

Locals know best whether a gold mine is still producing.

No matter if it’s a local’s mine or an outsider’s mine, as long as these mines yield, there will be people digging, hence they must hire miners for excavation.

The danger of mining during this period is significant, rich people can’t go into the mines themselves, they can only hire nearby local poor to do so.

Characters like the tour guide have far more insight into local society than ordinary people. Whether a mine is operational, their information is more well-informed than the average person.

Just like the gold mine near them, only lively for a while recently, then abandoned again.

The outsiders, upon hearing this, took out cameras, snapped a few photos, and proposed an idea, "Can we get a closer look, ideally seeing what’s inside..."

The guide hesitated, rubbing thumb and forefinger together, "You’ll need this, understand what I mean?"

"Fla, Sol, Ridon, not local currency."

The leader pulled out two Sol notes of ten denominations, handing them over.

The guide shook his head, "Not enough!"

The leader gave three more, and he finally satisfiedly pocketed the money.

The guide simply verified the authenticity, his face instantly lit up with a smile, mouth nearly stretching ear to ear.

On his copper-hued teeth, a thick layer of putty, he pocketed the money, and beckoned, "Follow me..."

Predictably, a group entered the mine, the guide chatted briefly with some in the workshop at the entrance, and those people powered the mine below and sent someone to accompany them down.

"That guide told me, I’ll take you down, you’ll give me ten bucks."

It was a stocky, dark-skinned young man, barefoot, wearing ripped pants, staring blankly at the leader.

The latter dug out ten bucks, revealing the same yellow teeth, leading them down the shaft.

"I heard they recently found gold over here?" asked the leader as they rode a winch downward.

The young man controlling the speed chuckled foolishly a few times, "There hasn’t been anything to dig for years."

"But I heard people say they really unearthed something..."

The young man paused briefly, and under the temptation of a ten-dollar bill, followed his heart.

"We hauled several trucks of gold ore from outside down the shaft, they just came to take a photo and left..."