Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 914: Diversification Contingency I

CH914 Diversification Contingency I

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When Alex arrived at the Golden Palace HQ in the Enclave City, he found Udara already waiting for him.

“Master…” Udara greeted him with a smile.

She walked over to his side and held his arm, dragging him forward like a young girl in love, something that brought a smile to Alex’s face.

She confidently held his arm as they both walked into the HQ building.

Alex and Udara made their way through the building, arriving at the top floor. With the special token pinned to both their clothes, none of the Enclave guards dared to stop them as the lovely couple walked through the stairs and corridors as if they owned the building.

Then again, they did.

Arriving at the top floor, the couple immediately made their way to the Palace Master’s office—Alex’s office—and entered it just as before with Alex’s special token.

Alex settled into the Palace Master’s seat while Udara stood beside him, waiting.

A few minutes later, hurried footsteps sounded at the door.

The familiar figures of Cromwell Haggleworth and Alpha rushed into the room.

Almost without looking at the figure seated in the Palace Master’s seat, the two threw themselves into a half-kneel.

“Palace Master!” they greeted.

The door to the office could only be opened with the special token or placard that could only be used by Alex himself—something of his design, of course. So, Haggleworth and Alpha didn’t even consider the possibility of someone invading the office.

The moment the door to the office was opened, Alpha was alerted by the C.I.N., and she informed Haggleworth, which resulted in both of them arriving together before Alex.

“Rise.” Alex’s voice sounded.

Alpha and Haggleworth rose to their feet.

“Palace Master, it’s good to have you back,” Haggleworth said.

“I trust everything ran smoothly in my absence?” Alex inquired.

“Not even the slightest ripple, Palace Master. The plan you left behind gave us the broad view of your intentions, and I believe we’ve been able to execute your grand agenda accordingly,” Haggleworth replied.

Alex nodded, but his eyes still fell upon Alpha.

“You will be pleased with the development of Dark Water, Master,” Alpha responded.

“Good. Very good.” Alex tapped his desk.

Runes lit up on the table as it transformed into a Magic COMET table—specifically, one of the primary interfaces for the C.I.N. system.

Alpha took the cue and walked up to the table, manipulating it with extreme proficiency. Even Alex wondered if he could utilise the table as effortlessly as Alpha was using it.

‘She must have used her Dark Water magic table a lot,’ Alex deduced.

And he wasn’t far from the truth.

Manipulating the magic table for the Continental Information Network was one of Alpha’s favourite pastimes and what she considered one of the best perks of her job.

“As you instructed, for the past two years or so that you have been away, we have focused on spreading the C.I.N. system as you designed,” Alpha said.

Alex watched a simulated animation.

Starting from the DragonHold Enclave, the City of Ashes and the Imperial Capital, strings rose and shot towards every major city in the Empire, brazenly starting from the three Grand Ducal capitals to the five Ducal capitals and downwards until all noble fiefdom capitals in the Virellian Empire were covered.

And from there, the strings spread to other Empires. Just as with the Virellian Empire, the network spread from each Imperial capital downwards based on noble rank, covering all cities and towns across the continent.

“Dark Water directly controls the branches in the fiefdom capitals. Then we use a series of loosely connected intelligence and information agencies to spread to the cities and within each fiefdom.”

Alpha continued as the strings spread from each capital city to the cities and towns within their respective fiefdoms.

Haggleworth stepped up at this point.

“The Palace worked in tandem with Dark Water at this time to also spread the logistics network you instructed,” the gnomish CEO said.

“Both the logistics network and C.I.N. require similar infrastructure, more specifically, buildings and vehicles. So, as you instructed, we set up two new companies: a subsidiary logistics company directly tied to the Golden Palace and a separate real estate company.

“At best, the real estate company is tied to the Golden Palace via some trade agreements, and nothing more.”

As Haggleworth spoke, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of building icons lit up across the map of the continent.

“The real estate company purchases land and building assets, while the logistics company purchases vehicles, carriages and mounts. As you requested, we used the holding company structure you described.

“The Real Estate Company and the Logistics Company both have a series of subsidiaries that are unconnected on the surface. However, every title deed, permit or patent received and used by these subsidiaries is legally owned or held by the parent holding company.

“So, even if something happens to the subsidiaries, all legal documents and legal tender go back to and remain firmly held by the parent companies.”

“Good work,” Alex said.

Haggleworth bowed.

Then he continued, “To provide anonymity to Dark Water, all the buildings it uses are owned or bought for it by subsidiaries of the Real Estate Company, while the transportation it uses is owned or controlled by the Logistics Company.

“The spread of Dark Water—the information it was able to acquire and provide—helped the two companies easily expand their reach, while the expanded reach allowed Dark Water to manage its operations discreetly and anonymously.”

“Excellent. I like what I am hearing.” Alex smiled with a nod.

“But this many buildings—even if the Golden Palace is rich—acquiring and running them is not cheap. Can the budget I provided cover everything?” he asked.

Haggleworth pushed up his glasses.

“You underestimate C.I.N. and our expanded logistics network, Palace Master. With the information from Dark Water and C.I.N., the reach of the logistics network, and the Palace’s influence, in just two years we have been able to recoup the initial investments, and we have just started to see profits trickle in,” Haggleworth said proudly.

‘This entire project costs billions of gold coins—maybe more than the Imperial budget of the Virellian Empire itself. Acquiring and moving that much funding without drawing attention is already a feat, but to have already recouped the funds and already be making a profit in just two years?’

Alex looked at Haggleworth and Alpha incredulously.

Alpha chuckled. “Master, you said it yourself: C.I.N. is the beginning of a new era—one in which information is the greatest currency.

“C.I.N. is close to being an archive of the world’s information—meaning we hold a store of all the world’s ‘currency’. Never mind my expertise in wielding information and Haggleworth’s business acumen. Even a donkey would be worth nothing if it cannot properly utilise and translate such a massive wealth into coin.”

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