Chapter 561 - 545: Raising Money

Chapter 561: Chapter 545: Raising Money

Hub City, Wesren Heavy Industries Headquarters.

Allen pushed open the doors to the top-floor office. Vera was rapidly approving documents across three holographic screens, while Colin had his head buried in a half-meter-tall stack of ledgers, verifying data. Hearing footsteps, both of them looked up simultaneously.

"Boss." A hint of surprise flashed in Vera’s eyes. It was extremely rare for Allen to show up without prior notice.

Allen walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the highly efficient industrial park below. "Colin, how much liquid capital can we draw from the company’s accounts right now?" he asked, cutting straight to the chase.

Colin pushed up the monocle on the bridge of his nose. His fingers tapped rapidly on the internal terminal, bringing up rows of data streams hovering in mid-air. "The tutoring division has reserved next quarter’s venue rent and instructor salaries. The environmental protection division just took on waste disposal contracts from three major corporations. The Golem production line is currently undergoing its fourth-generation technical upgrade."

Colin spoke extremely fast, his voice steady. "Deducting these mandatory operational costs, risk reserves, and next month’s payroll..." He paused, his brow furrowing as he looked at the final figure. "Without affecting the company’s foundation and daily operations, we can extract a maximum of five hundred million Low-Level Magic Stones."

Five hundred million was just a drop in the bucket. Allen fell into deep thought. He needed at least twenty billion for the admission ticket, and his personal account only had seven billion, six hundred million. Adding this five hundred million brought the total to eight billion, one hundred million—not even half of what he needed.

"Understood. Transfer that five hundred million to my account for now," Allen said, turning around. "Get back to work."

He walked over to the sofa and sat down, closing his eyes as his brain shifted into high gear, retrieving every viable plan. Issue internal bonds? Mortgage part of the mining rights in the Plane? Or go to the Panorama Mall to sell High-Level Golems? Every single option came with astronomical risks. He didn’t mind taking chances, but he hated losing control.

The office fell into a momentary silence. Vera glanced at Allen on the sofa, then turned to look at Colin. Having worked together for years, their unspoken understanding was etched into their bones. Vera jutted her chin toward the door and walked out. Colin closed his ledger and followed closely behind.

Out in the corridor.

"The boss is in trouble," Vera lowered her voice. "His reaction just now shows there’s a massive funding gap."

"I can tell. He’s incredibly short on funds," Colin nodded.

"How much do you still have in your account?" Vera asked.

"Two billion, one hundred and thirty million," Colin stated.

"I’ve got two billion, two hundred and fifty million on my end." Vera pulled up her personal account without hesitation.

"Are you sure? That’s our—"

"His business is our business," Vera interrupted him. "Without him watching our backs, we’d be eaten alive sooner or later."

"...Alright."

The two exchanged a glance. Without any unnecessary words, they began transferring the funds in unison.

Inside the office.

Allen was mentally deducing the pros and cons of applying for a loan from the Association when his personal terminal suddenly emitted two rapid alerts. He opened his eyes and raised his wrist as a faint blue holographic screen popped up.

[Your account has received a transfer: 2.13 billion Low-Level Magic Stones. Remitter: Colin.]

[Your account has received a transfer: 2.25 billion Low-Level Magic Stones. Remitter: Vera.]

Two massive sums, totaling four billion, three hundred and eighty million. Allen’s expression froze in astonishment. A rare trace of emotion flickered across his typically unreadable face.

The doors were pushed open, and Vera and Colin walked back in, one after the other.

"What are you doing?" Allen looked up.

"Lending it to you." Vera walked up to the desk, leaning both hands on the surface, her tone light. "Looking at how you were calculating things just now, that five hundred million definitely wasn’t even going to make a dent. The two of us pooled our funds, and this is all we’ve got."

Allen looked at the two of them in silence. He knew better than anyone what this money meant. This was their entire net worth accumulated over decades since they founded the New Western Education Group. It was blood, sweat, and tears, scraped together coin by coin from countless Plane Markets.

"Do you even know what I’m going to use this money for?" Allen’s voice was low.

"No," Colin pushed up his monocle. "And we don’t need to know. You are the boss; you make the decisions."

Vera chimed in as well. "We originally planned to save up for a few more decades, scrape together five billion each, and seek out a wondrous item personally refined by a Moonlight Mage—the Key of Starlight.

"Rumor has it that this item allows a Second-level Wizard to directly break through to the Morning Star realm without exhausting their potential."

Allen’s heart felt as though an invisible hand had just given it a hard squeeze. Five billion—that was a figure ninety-nine percent of Second-level Wizards could never hope to attain in their entire lifetimes. Vera and Colin had worked themselves to the bone to save this money, all so they might one day touch the threshold of the Morning Star realm. For the two of them, who were not particularly adept at magical research, it was the final hope of their lifelong cultivation. And now, without so much as asking a single question, they had slammed half the stairway to truth right down in front of him.

Vera shrugged, a smile curling the corners of her lips as she looked directly into Allen’s eyes.

"The only reason Wesren Heavy Industry is what it is today, and the only reason we were able to earn these billions, is because of your existence. You are the company’s technological core, its martial deterrent, and the helmsman of this battleship.

"Without you, Wesren Heavy Industry would be torn to shreds tomorrow by all those jealous merchant guilds. Mechanical Gears is the perfect example."

Colin added from the side, "Our entire business is built on you as a person. If you stagnate, no matter how much money we save, we’ll ultimately just be meat on someone else’s chopping block. Therefore, the logic behind our investment is very simple: protecting you means protecting our hope of breaking through to the Morning Star realm."

It was a rational calculation, wrapped in unreserved trust. Allen fell silent. Since transmigrating, he had grown accustomed to digitizing everyone. Enemies were obstacles; friends were resources. He calculated the utilization value of every single person, plotting the most perfect exchange of benefits. But now, this impact—one that completely transcended his logical models—stirred ripples deep within Allen’s increasingly detached heart.

He looked at Vera, then at Colin. The corners of his lips suddenly lifted, breaking into a smile. "Alright."

Allen didn’t say thank you. He simply accepted the money.

"I’m going to buy a Plane.

"A medium-sized resource Plane. Extremely rich in minerals. It will become the true rear guard and factory for Wesren Heavy Industry. From now on, we won’t have to be at the mercy of anyone’s whims."

Hearing Allen’s plan, Vera and Colin looked utterly astonished. Buying a Plane—this was a true oligarch’s game! Had he already reached this level?

"Consider this money a loan from you two," Allen looked at them, his tone resolute. "Within fifty years, I will pay you back with interest. When that time comes, I will personally buy two Keys of Starlight and give them to you."

Vera laughed, and Colin pushed up his monocle.

"Boss, don’t just paint us pretty pictures. We keep very strict accounts," Vera joked.

"Don’t worry, Jarvis has already recorded the audio." Allen resumed his usual unhurried posture. He looked down at the balance on his terminal. Eleven billion, nine hundred and eighty million. He was still eight billion short of the twenty billion baseline. And to have enough chips for a guaranteed win, he was still over ten billion short.

"There’s still a funding gap," Allen said. "For the next three months, transfer all company profits into my account. Also, settle the textbook licensing fees for the tutoring division early."

"Understood." Colin immediately switched back into work mode.

Having finished delegating the follow-up tasks, Allen turned and left the headquarters.

Back in the study of the Deep Blue Residence.

Allen stood by the window, looking out at the dazzling starry sky of the Great Library Plane. A gap of over ten billion. There was absolutely no way to scrape that together within three months using conventional methods. He needed a windfall.

Allen’s gaze gradually deepened. There was a place where gold was scattered everywhere, yet it was occupied by a pack of barbaric creatures who only knew how to devour one another. Within it, every mountain and every river represented endless, pristine mineral veins and untapped wealth. It also represented chaos, slaughter, and the most primal greed.

Purgatory.

The corners of Allen’s lips slowly curled into an icy arc. It seemed he needed to go pay a visit to those lovely Demon clients and negotiate a much more "in-depth" business deal.