Empire of Shadows

Every time Cooper came to New Golden City, he had a unique sense of novelty.

For example, a place that he vaguely remembered suddenly became unfamiliar. It might be because a new skyscraper had been added here.

It might also be that the surrounding buildings had undergone some changes.

He once had a question: why do real estate developers in New Golden City always do some meaningless work?

They tear down some houses and build them, build them and tear them down, constantly repeating, constantly wasting funds here. What on earth are they doing this for?

He didn’t think this was a profitable business. Look, you spend a million to build a building, and then you tear it down, and you spend two million to build another one.

Even if this building is worth three million after it’s built, you will still have a considerable deficit. Only when its value is four million, or five million, can you make money.

But by the time it reaches this value, they might tear down this house again, and rebuild a new one on its ruins.

Even until today, he still hadn’t quite understood this logic and reason. Being middle class doesn’t mean being omnipotent. At least in this matter, he was indeed a little helpless.

New Golden City, which was being renewed daily, gave him some special feelings. Sitting in the stockbroker’s car, his gaze continuously watched the things around him.Suddenly, he felt the car clearly turn direction, and then it pulled over to the side of the road, moving slowly.

”What happened?” He looked at the stockbroker who was driving. Then the next second, he saw a luxurious convoy flash past them.

Without a doubt, the other party was returning from the direction they were heading.

”Whose convoy is that?” Cooper couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the luxurious, glistening cars in the sun.

The piano mirror-finish paint made him unable to resist the urge to rush over and touch them. The tactile feel must be amazing!

It wouldn’t be rough, wouldn’t be cold. It would give a warm feeling, like a young girl’s skin.

His dream was to buy a luxury car. Although his current money could definitely buy such a good car, to be able to afford it, and to buy it without a burden, were two different things.

It was like some people could easily own a luxury item worth several hundred or even a thousand dollars, while another person would have to grit their teeth to afford it.

They might both be owners, but they were two absolutely different groups.

The stockbroker looked through the rearview mirror at the departing convoy. As one of the most ”well-informed” people in this city, he immediately recognized that convoy.

”That’s the Lance Family’s convoy. It’s likely that Lance himself is in the car.”

Cooper retracted his gaze from the distant, already indistinct, luxury car. ”Is this Lance very formidable?”

”And how do you know it’s their car?”

Cooper hoped that he would be able to develop in New Golden City in the future. After all, this was the financial center of the Federation, and even the world.

His stockbroker couldn’t help but explain with a bit of a show-off. ”The Lance Family is a gang family. It’s said that most of them are Imperial people. Some also call them the ’Empire Gang.’”

”But they publicly refer to themselves as the ’Lance Family,’ because their leader is called ’Lance White.’”

”What’s interesting is that this Lance White is a federal person, and his identity is a bit special.”

”Special?” Cooper was clearly interested in this topic. ”How special?”

”He was born in the suburbs of Golden Port City. When he was a child, he was abducted and sold to work in a black factory. It wasn’t until he was seventeen or eighteen that he found an opportunity to escape the black factory. Based on the few memories of his childhood, he found his home.”

”Later, he found a job in the neighborhood, but because he was a very rule-abiding person, and very honest, many people began to join him, to follow him.”

”In the end, they did some good things, exposed some of the dark secrets of the upper class, and became well-known.”

”Some also say that precisely because they did this, those gentlemen of the upper class called them a gang, to use the federal police to suppress them.”

”But who knows about this kind of thing?”

The stockbroker shrugged. ”Anyway, for me, I don’t care what kind of person he is. Good person, bad person, or someone else. It has nothing to do with me.”

”As for how I distinguish them?”

”That’s actually simpler. In New Golden City, only their convoy will uniformly use a red, one-palm-width waistline. And if you pay attention to the mark on their car pillars, there is an ’L.W.,’ which means it’s definitely a Lance Family car.”

Listening to the stockbroker talking about these rumors related to the city and the upper class, Cooper couldn’t help but sigh. ”You really know a lot!”

This compliment made the stockbroker smile. ”Actually, it’s nothing. As long as you stay in this city for a long time, you will know that there are almost no secrets here.”

The car quickly rejoined the traffic, and soon it entered the congested Deterland roadside.

The stockbroker parked the car in a parking lot at the entrance of the street. ”There definitely won’t be any parking spots inside. Today is Monday!”

He explained. ”It’s only a five-minute walk from here to the hotel. You can take a look at everything here!”

Hope Mining had booked a grand ballroom in the most luxurious hotel on Deterland Street to entertain all the high-share investors who were invited to the dividend meeting.

They could stay for free, enjoy the hotel’s services, and did not need to pay any extra money. Everything was paid for by the company.

As the two walked, Cooper asked a question. ”How much did you invest?”

The stockbroker didn’t react at first. ”What?” But soon he realized what Cooper was asking. He immediately said with a smile, ”I invested about 170,000.”

Only 80,000 of that was his own money. The rest was what he had financed or borrowed through some institutions.

He knew that his investment this time was a bit impulsive, but at the same time, he also couldn’t refuse such a fortune that he wished he could stuff directly into his own mouth, to just disappear before his eyes.

Hearing that the other party could come up with so much money, Cooper was not surprised, but a little amazed. ”What about now?”

”Do you have 400,000?”

The stockbroker’s face was full of smiles. ”No. About 340,000 or 350,000. I haven’t checked today, but it should only be more.”

”Wow!” Cooper showed a surprised expression. ”You’ve achieved financial freedom!”

The federal government, when promoting the Federation Dream, certainly knew that there had to be a beginning and an end. If this was a road with no end, even if it looked really good, not so many people would embark on it.

So the federal government promoted a very special concept to the public through some famous social activists, some scholars, and experts—

When a person has a net asset of 200,000, he can completely give up working, and can still live a very comfortable life.

Many experts listed many ways to manage this wealth. For example, how much money should be in savings, how much should be used for investment, and how much should be used to purchase high-quality assets such as real estate. And how much money should be left in hand in the end.

They always instilled these concepts into the public. Coupled with the fact that the interest on federal savings had indeed increased in the past two years, this rhetoric was very popular.

Many people, when chatting and talking about their medium- and long-term goals, would often mention 200,000.

The stockbroker clearly also knew the reason why Cooper was saying these words. He smiled and waved his arm. ”Who doesn’t want to get more?”

”Fortunately, we have all seized such an excellent opportunity. Such an opportunity only comes once in maybe ten, or twenty years!”

”Do you know what?”

”Before I called you, I had actually called many others. I told them that a stock that could change their lives and family destiny was waiting for them to subscribe.”

”But the vast majority of them had no reaction to my reminder. Some of them even thought I was a liar, and that I was calling them to trick them out of their money.”

”Only you, Cooper, you are the one who trusts me the most, which is why I would reveal some news to you!”

”We will prove to those who don’t trust me that my professional ethics are qualified!”

Cooper nodded vigorously. ”I believe you!”

In fact, this was the first time Cooper had truly met his stockbroker, and the first time he had talked to him so closely. But he just had a sense of familiarity with this stockbroker who had professional ethics.

The two chatted, and soon arrived at the hotel where their dividend meeting was being held. After showing their invitation, they were invited to a ballroom on the third floor of the hotel.

This place could accommodate over a thousand people, so accommodating some of the invited investors was not a difficult matter.

Not long after the two had sat down, the dividend meeting began. The first person to take the stage was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his late thirties. He introduced himself as the president of the mining company.

This was the first time Cooper had attended such a large-scale financial meeting. Everything seemed very new to him.

He had attended the industry skilled workers exchange meeting organized by the Labor Union before, but the style of that meeting was far inferior to this one.

The girls in the aisle, who looked young and beautiful, and exuded a youthful aura, all had sweet smiles on their faces.

Cooper secretly glanced at one. The girl he had looked at immediately noticed and walked over. She bowed slightly, exposing her ambition. ”Sir, is there anything I can help you with?”

The breath she exhaled when she spoke was fragrant. Cooper didn’t dare to look around. He said in a somewhat flustered voice, ”No, nothing. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”

The girl nodded. ”If you need anything, or don’t understand something, you can call me at any time.”

She finished speaking and retreated.

The stockbroker next to him couldn’t help but laugh twice. ”If you like her, you can give her your room number. There’s a high probability that she will go to your room to give you a surprise before you go to bed tonight.”

”And what you need to pay is probably only two or three hundred dollars.”

Cooper glanced at the girl again. The girl was still smiling sweetly at him. Only then did he realize that the girl also had dimples, and her smile was very charming.

He turned his head with some panic. Since he had turned thirty, no young and beautiful girl had ever smiled at him so sweetly.

”You just said...” he turned to look at his stockbroker, ”two or three hundred?”

The stockbroker shrugged. ”You haven’t been here before. You don’t understand everything here.”

”In Deterland, everything has a price.”

”A commodity in the window on the roadside, a piece of bread on the counter, or...” he glanced at the girl. ”A girl who can make you feel good.”

”Money is the God here. No one can refuse God, and they are not allowed to refuse God. This is the rule here...”

Cooper’s emotions were a little chaotic. He didn’t know whether he should give his room number to anyone else, but...

Just as he was a little unsure of what to do, the applause around him attracted his attention back to the conference itself.

”Next, the company’s development will enter a very fast track. We will acquire more mining companies, at a very low price.”

”After the company team’s evaluation, by the end of this year, our profit will be over 40 million, or even over 50 million.”

”Because of the war, many metals are listed as strategic resources. It can be said that as long as we bring them from the soil to the surface, the moment they touch the air, they will turn into money.”

”Our profitability, our long-term operating and profitability, can already be ranked among the top ten in the industry.”

”At the same time, because of some restrictions, you know, the Federal Financial Regulatory Commission is always worried about us talking nonsense and disrupting the market, so it’s not convenient for me to disclose too much.”

”But what I can tell you all is that good news will follow one after another. If you still plan to continue holding our company’s stock, then you have made a very correct decision.”

”If you plan to increase your holdings, then I must congratulate you. You have already grasped the secret and the key to wealth.”

”Of course, if you plan to reduce or liquidate your stock, I can only say it’s a pity. When the new era arrives, we will be standing on the top floor, and you will only be a scenic view for us!”

He said as he pulled the red silk cloth on the cart next to him, revealing the cash piled up like a small mountain below. ”Alright, now let’s start distributing the money. I know you’ve been waiting impatiently...”

With the appearance of more beautiful girls, they carried trays of banknotes to everyone. At this moment, every investor received a great emotional feedback.

Cooper was a little excited as he took the banknotes from the tray. Although it was only 3,000, it was equivalent to a whole year’s salary last year.

And he had only invested in Hope Mining for two months.

Now, almost everything that needed to be said had been said. Next was the time for free questioning and chatting.

Someone stood up, and took the microphone from the girl next to him. ”Mr. President, I am very curious about the company’s next big move. Can you not disclose anything at all?”

The president laughed heartily. ”Of course not. Lest the Financial Regulatory Commission find trouble with me. But just as I can disclose to you all, this is definitely a very, very big piece of news.”

”Our market value will increase by a huge margin. We will become the financial miracle of the Federation, and even the world, this year. We will become the focus of those investment banks, those big capitals.”

”And you all, will experience all this with us!”

The more he said so, the more curious people became. Cooper turned and lowered his head to ask the stockbroker next to him, ”Didn’t you say you had some inside news?”

”What is the big news?”

As soon as he heard the phrase ”inside news,” the people around all turned their heads to look at the stockbroker.

Although he was cursing in his heart, he didn’t show his panic on his face. ”It’s not convenient for me to say. After all, there are too many people here.”

He looked around at the people, and then lowered his voice a little. ”It’s not convenient for me to tell you this in a public setting. We’ll talk about it after we get back.”

His words had made many people shift their gaze from him to his name tag, and firmly remembered his name.

From his attire, everyone could tell that he was very likely an industry practitioner.

With his name, it was too easy to find him here.

Cooper still didn’t have any suspicion. Because the stockbroker had said that he had inside news before the president had announced this news. The facts also proved that this was indeed news that only insiders knew.

Next, people continuously stood up to ask questions. They were very concerned about the company’s strategic plans for this year and next year, including whether they intended to continue to expand their scale in the Yalan region.

Now their mine resources were all concentrated in the Rapa region. They had the strength and the ability to continue to expand outwards.

The president’s answer to this was also relatively simple. He said that they indeed had such a plan.

Everyone who stood up would bring up some topics that were more attention-grabbing, which made Cooper, who was watching from the side, feel that these participants of the meeting were all highly educated.

At least he wouldn’t ask these in-depth, meaningful questions. He would only ask how much he would get in dividends next year.

And these questions and answers had also filled everyone with anticipation for the future!

They seemed to be able to feel that the mining company now was a ship full of passengers, taking them to ride the wind and waves on the endless ocean!

Along with that, he was also full of confidence for the future.

Let alone the fact that the stock in his hand could rise to 500,000. Even if it was 1 million, he felt it was no problem—

The federal stock at this time did not have a circuit breaker mechanism. Whether it was a crash or a surge, unless there was human intervention.

A miracle had occurred here, where a stock had risen from a few cents to nearly two dollars in one day. The dozens of times increase had made a group of people become super-rich in an instant.

There were also stocks of four or five dollars that, in one day, were only left with one or two dollars, or even less than a dollar.

The completely free-floating market had brought infinite possibilities, hope, and also destruction!