Chapter 563 - 547: Selling Dreams and Cashing Out

Chapter 563: Chapter 547: Selling Dreams and Cashing Out

Two months and eleven days.

For Allen, time had been completely quantified into mission numbers, jumping coordinates, and final profit margins.

[Mission B-0512: Clear out Wizard experiment mutants. Complete. Reward: 8,000,000 Low-Level Magic Stones, 150 Credit Points.]

[Mission A-0091 (Assist): Construct a temporary defensive position at the "Molten Firefront," provide fire support for three hours. Complete. Reward: 120,000,000 Low-Level Magic Stones, 800 Credit Points.]

[Mission B-0774: Recover ancient Mechanical Body wreckage from the "Lost Star Sea." Complete. Reward...]

Like a tireless, precision machine, he piloted the Ten Thousand Miles of Sunshine, shuttling through unfamiliar Planes. By day, he was on battlefields roaring with artillery fire. By night, he sat in his Meditation Room, processing the massive amounts of data from Wesren Heavy Industry and Purgatory Trade.

The warehouses in the Cybertron Half-Plane saw an unprecedented clearance sale. Those peculiarly purposed, long-backlogged flesh, souls, and scrap Alchemy Materials were bundled and sold off at clearance prices, forcibly squeezing out 1.5 billion Low-Level Magic Stones in cash.

Meanwhile, under the guise of "technological iteration and giving back to loyal customers," Wesren Heavy Industry’s Golem production lines aggressively offloaded stock at a twenty percent discount to all partner chambers of commerce, recovering another 800 million in funds.

Seven B-rank missions and one A-rank assist mission—all chosen for being short on time and quick on money. Two months of high-intensity "gold farming" brought him a reward of 1.23 billion Low-Level Magic Stones. Add to that the 900 million in profit exchanged over two months of Purgatory Trade.

In the study of the Deep Blue Residence, the final number floated quietly on the light screen.

[Current Total Liquid Funds: 18.41 billion Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Time until Minister Meeting: 19 days.]

Allen leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the number. He was still 1.59 billion short of the 20 billion minimum entry ticket, and the gap to the 30 billion absolute safety line remained massive.

"Jarvis, simulate all feasible options."

[Option 1: Increase production capacity of the Soul Mine. Rejected. Cybertron’s computing power and energy cannot be entirely devoted to "mining"; further expansion requires more capital investment.]

[Option 2: Sell a portion of Wesren Heavy Industry’s equity. Rejected. This move will shake our foundation; the long-term gains far outweigh short-term financing.]

[Option 3: Take out a loan from the Magic Stone Bank. Rejected. The interest is too high, collateral is required, and they do not offer loans exceeding 10 years.]

Options lit up one by one, only to be swiftly covered by the gray word "Rejected."

Conventional methods had reached a dead end. Allen’s gaze flickered, his vision piercing through the void. It seemed he had no choice but to hit up a wealthy old friend for a handout.

Wesren Heavy Industry had always maintained business ties with the Tieyan Clan, but since Allen’s advancement, he hadn’t contacted Victor.

"Connect me to Victor Iron Flame."

The moment the call connected, the light screen lit up. In the frame, Victor sat behind a massive desk carved from Star Thunder Wood. He wore a custom Wizard Robe patterned with dark gold, the Tieyan Clan crest pinned to his chest. Time didn’t seem to have left many marks on his face; apart from his innate arrogance, he had gained a bit of the profound depth unique to those in power. He held a glass of potion radiating a faint blue glow, swirling it methodically.

"A rare guest, the newly ascended Lord Morning Star." Victor set down his glass, his tone three parts teasing and seven parts sour. "I thought after your promotion, you’d forgotten about us old classmates still struggling in the mud."

The two of them had become disciples under the same mentor one after the other. Now that his former classmate had leaped to become a Morning Star, the complexity of his feelings was easily imaginable.

"Save the catch-up for next time," Allen cut straight to the chase. "I need a sum of money."

Victor raised an eyebrow, leaning forward slightly as his merchant instincts instantly overpowered his aristocratic mannerisms. "Wesren Heavy Industry’s recent cash flow has been quite beautiful. Does the esteemed Lord Morning Star actually lack money? Tell me, how much? If it’s three or five hundred million, I can transfer it to you from my personal account."

"Give me six billion first."

"PFFFT—COUGH, COUGH!" Victor’s hand jerked, spilling a few drops of the precious potion onto the Star Thunder Wood desk, where it corroded the surface with faint wisps of white smoke. He pulled out a silk handkerchief to wipe his hand, his gaze turning cold. "Allen, we are friends, but the Tieyan Clan is not a charity. Six billion is enough to buy a mid-sized chamber of commerce. What are you using as collateral?"

"No collateral," Allen said flatly.

Victor laughed out of pure anger. "Are you joking? Asking for six billion on empty promises? Even a Morning Star Wizard can’t be this unruly!" ℯℯ𝘭.

"How about I deliver two Level 4 Golems to you in twenty years?" Allen threw out the bargaining chip he had been pondering for a long time.

Victor froze for a moment, then shook his head with a sneer. "Allen, I deal in Golems too. Are you trying to fool me with this? An ordinary Level 4 Golem costs between five hundred million and two billion based on size and material costs. The market price maxes out at four billion.

"Two of them? I’ll count that as eight billion. But why should I lock up six billion in ready Magic Stones for twenty years? Am I betting that you can become a Moonlight Mage in twenty years? This deal isn’t worth it for the Tieyan Clan."

He leaned back in his chair, restoring his posture of total control.

"What if they are ’Ascended’?"

The study fell silent for a second.

"BANG!"

Victor stood up abruptly, planting both hands on the desk and staring intently at the light screen. His icy blue eyes were filled with disbelief. "What... what did you say?!"

"Ascended," Allen looked at him, enunciating clearly. "Level 4 Golems that have grasped the Power of Laws."

Victor breathed heavily, his chest heaving violently.

"Impossible!" he instinctively retorted. "Ascended Level 4 Golems are priceless and virtually impossible to find on the market! How long has it been since you advanced to Morning Star? How could you possibly master such core technology?!"

A newly manufactured Level 4 Golem merely possessed destructive power comparable to a Morning Star. However, an "Ascended" Level 4 Golem could truly wield the Power of Laws just like a Morning Star Wizard! That was a qualitative leap!

The former was high-level cannon fodder; the latter was a strategic deterrent! At the Panorama Mall, the starting bid for an Ascended Golem had never been lower than five billion, and the vast majority of Wizards couldn’t even obtain the qualifications to enter the auction.

Allen didn’t offer much explanation. He raised his right hand and gently swiped his fingertip across the void. The contents of a Nether River Contract were transmitted over. The terms were clear and straightforward: if two Ascended Level 4 Golems were not delivered within twenty years, he would unconditionally repay thirty billion Low-Level Magic Stones.

Victor scrutinized it word by word for a long while but found no textual traps. He took a deep breath, forcing down the shock in his heart. "Do you... actually have this technology?"

The corners of Allen’s mouth curled up slightly, revealing a mysterious smile exclusive to capitalists. "I’m not telling you. Are you signing or not?"

"I’m signing! Only an idiot wouldn’t sign!" Victor gritted out the words. "In twenty years, you must deliver on time!"

"No problem," Allen nodded seriously.

"Six billion. I’ll go gather the funds for you right now. It’ll be wired into your account in installments within half an hour." Victor gritted his teeth, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "Allen, if you fail to deliver in twenty years, the Tieyan Clan will seek an explanation from you, even if it severely damages our own vitality."

"A pleasure doing business." Allen cleanly cut the connection.

Half an hour later, his account balance updated right on time.

[Current Total Liquid Funds: 24.41 billion Low-Level Magic Stones.]

Not only had he crossed the twenty-billion entry threshold, but he also left a premium buffer of 4.4 billion. Any more than that, and he truly wouldn’t be able to squeeze out another dime.

Allen leaned back in his chair, his spirits lifting.

As for that "Ascended Golem" technology... he honestly didn’t have it right now. However, through his in-depth dissections of Demon Souls and his deeper exploration of the Soul Law recently, he had touched upon the threshold. Perhaps it could be realized very soon.

Regardless, painting a pie in the sky to cash out first, and then using the funds for research and development—wasn’t that standard business practice?

Next, it was just a matter of seeing what sort of heavy hitters would show up at the card table during the Minister Meeting nineteen days from now.