Darkstone Code

Chapter 1069 - 1067 Years Ago

The selection of the house was very smooth. When the manager of the real estate company heard that someone came to buy a house with Lynch’s business card, he quickly alerted the owner of the real estate company.

In the Federation, mid to high-end residences do not require builders since most of them are wooden detached villas.

To cater to the interest of wealthy individuals in physical labor, which they have never experienced, real estate companies have prepared a large number of prefabricated house kits.

These are all wooden, with a few metal parts, and a large book of blueprints that look like maps. As long as you follow the blueprints, an ordinary family can complete the construction of a detached house in a week.

This provides a very special enjoyment and experience. Many wealthy people have never done physical labor since they were born, nor have they tried to build a house themselves.

These plotlines that only appear in movies or novels have fascinated many people.

If you need to buy a house and the broker takes you to a piece of empty land with a pile of top-quality building materials, don’t be surprised; that’s just what your house looks like before it is completed.

Of course, some people do not wish to do this, so they can have the house built for them or directly buy a completed house.

The finished product is slightly cheaper. Sometimes it is used as a model home. Those who truly buy houses in mid to high-end communities will not mind spending a little more money to buy a new house.

Eventually, they chose a house listed at 270,000 paid in full. The real estate development company’s president gave them a huge discount, allowing them to buy the house for only 198,000.

A three-story house with a usable area of over a thousand square feet, three stories above ground, not including a small cellar.

However, the space utilization on the third floor is not very high. It has a triangular sloped roof, which means that the actual usable area is only about seven hundred square feet.

But this is enough for a family.

The only possible regret is the lack of a swimming pool and a tennis court, but that’s okay; they have a large garden.

After signing the sales contract, the real estate developer took away the check that Lynch gave her, and she gained ownership of the house.

The two young people were in a kind of frenzy of "turning a new page in life," ignoring some important issues.

For example... bills.

When someone buys a house, they must be prepared to pay various bills, especially in high-end communities where these bills are pervasive.

Do you think that not living there can save you from the bills?

No, you can choose not to live there, but the bills won’t decrease.

Starting with property tax, public utility taxes, grid usage fees, electricity bills, water bills, and so on, not to mention landscaping fees and service company fees, which do not include gardening and lawn maintenance fees.

In mid to high-end communities, the grass on the lawn is replaced from time to time to ensure that the entire community looks very tidy and vibrant.

If you enter a high-end community in the winter and are greeted by a scene of what looks like summer greenery, don’t be surprised.

To maintain such a picture, they may replace the grass every month, with turf costing more than ten dollars per square foot!

You can choose not to pay these fees, but then you will face a water and electricity cutoff, the community service company will come knocking, and the neighbors will too—they don’t want to live next door to a poor person!

Soon enough, a summons will be presented to you, telling you that you are being sued, and if you cannot resolve all issues within the stipulated time, they will require you to immediately sell the house and leave the community.

It sounds a bit unfree, but this is precisely a manifestation of freedom because it’s the majority’s freedom!

Every month there are bills ranging from three to five hundred to over a thousand, which really isn’t a city that ordinary people can afford!

Of course, perhaps the real estate developer did not expect that someone unsuitable for the community would sneak in!

However, it doesn’t matter much to him; at least he gave Lynch face, making it easier to find a reason to chat the next time they meet.

The new week began on Monday, and different testing agencies delivered all the reports.

"I’ve reviewed all the reports, and they all indicate the gold bar content you provided exceeds 99%, confirming it’s real gold."

Lynch nodded, seemingly questioning himself or Anna, "What would cause gold prices to plummet?"

This question was a bit beyond the syllabus. Anna was stunned for a while and hesitantly tried to express her idea, "Perhaps... some bad news, like discovering a new gold mine?"

This was the most likely method she could think of. Fortunately, she didn’t suggest that the gold mines were exhausted or mining stopped due to accidents, as such events would only drive gold prices up.

Lynch pursed his lips, "That method is too slow. There must be more powerful entities intervening, otherwise, it’s tough to achieve."

He gazed out at Bupen, his thoughts drifting, as if they had left his body searching for a path through the fog.

He didn’t know how long he walked, perhaps a long time or just an instant, until a pin-sized light appeared in the fog, catching Lynch’s attention.

He quickly moved toward the light spot, eventually entering a door engulfed by light.

He blinked and regained his focus, "We’ll discuss this matter later; I have a meeting this afternoon, and I’d like you to accompany me."

Anna initially didn’t think much of it until she saw the faces at the table, people frequently seen on TV, in newspapers, and magazines. Then she realized this wasn’t an ordinary meeting!

Lynch sat at the head of the table, looked at the documents in his hand, and said, "We’ve gathered 270 million in cash, which is much less than I expected!"

He tossed the form back onto the table, "I thought we could gather at least 350 million or 400 million."

The room was silent; no one refuted Lynch’s statement or explained why they couldn’t spare more cash.

Moreover, even if they could, they wouldn’t want to use it all up.

Cash is too crucial in the capital game; they can’t put all their eggs in one basket. Being able to gather this much is already a result of their assessment.

Lynch looked around the room, "Look, we’ve lost eleven people compared to last time, and there are seven new faces."

"I warmly welcome everyone to join our big family. I hope you can stay here; I don’t want to say this every time we have a meeting..."

He smiled, "The remaining rules remain unchanged, and by January at the latest, we should receive shares of Darkstone Airlines, gentlemen."

He allowed them a moment for contemplation, waiting about thirty seconds before continuing, "This is the first matter; the second is already in progress."

"I’ve acquired a piece of land outside the city, which will become our industrial incubation park..."

Lynch lifted his hand, signaling Anna to distribute the documents, and when the shareholders received them, they were a bit surprised.

It wasn’t the traditional document, filled with overwhelming circular or bar graphs, accompanied by dense and unreadable text.

This document was something they’ve never seen before—it included more illustrations, fewer numbers, and more direct data.

It didn’t contain much unnecessary information to explain why each statistic was this or that, just presenting numbers and results.

Results that were also numbers.

Even though there aren’t as many words, this document seems to be more persuasive, at least in appearance.

"This is our Century Incubation Plan. We will move industries that we believe are promising and have initial developments into this incubation park, maximizing industry integration and communication on the basis of possible industry synergy..."

A slew of more professional words widened the shareholders’ eyes. They weren’t sure what Lynch meant, but it unmistakably sounded appealing, impressive, and full of future opportunities!

Especially when Lynch mentioned upgrading and merging, it seemed to open a big door for them. Sometimes, a company is just a company, but when it strategically partners with others, it transcends...

This can enhance a company’s monetization ability. The "dismantling experts" in Bupen loved such prospects, and so did they.

Investing a small sum in an undervalued company to acquire a large share and then directly or decisively selling it to others for significant profit was once uncommonly done, but they weren’t exclusively doing it before.

Lynch exclusively focuses on this. Future Light Investment Company will not own any physical industries of its own; its main operation is scattering money around to gain investment returns.

A purely capital-oriented operation, purer than a Foundation; some Foundations even have physical industries, especially the larger ones.

They usually have numerous agricultural and livestock industries, farms, ranches, and animals. These industries have low but stable returns.

Lynch’s side has nothing, absolutely nothing. This evokes a bit of unease, but also a hint of excitement!

However, so far, he has been successful because there are no problems with his proposed investment strategy.

Every Moment and Darkstone Airlines will undoubtedly become integral parts of the Federation Market’s future.

"If anyone has any companies of interest, feel free to let me know, and I’ll have someone look into them."

"Also, I’d like to remind everyone to participate in various expos when possible; you might discover some great projects."

"Lastly, I wish everyone a Happy New Year in advance, and the next time we meet will likely be after the New Year..."