Darkstone Code

Chapter 1114 - 1112: Gold?

Actually, from the beginning, Charlie and his sister never intended to push the silver prices this high; they knew very well they didn’t possess that kind of energy.

When they set five dollars per ounce (Sol) as the ultimate target for silver prices and pushed forward, many people joined in spontaneously, and the price of silver kept climbing.

The higher the silver price, the more people wanted to stand with them, initially just those mining tycoons.

Higher silver prices meant their income was also increasing, and doubling at that, leaving them no reason not to support Charlie and his sister, much less give away their potential earnings.

If they wanted to continue speculating, they needed more capital, as the freedom in international markets is even more "liberal" than that within any closed market.

The market’s price fluctuations were also faster, more intense.

Later, international hot money and big capitalists noticed this and started joining in, but the money from these people wasn’t easy to get.

Some were willing to see silver speculation as cooperation, without much mutual responsibility between them and Charlie and his sister.

If they made money, they shared the profits; if they lost, everyone just lost together.

But some people were different; they came purely to make money, and they had ample funds in hand, using a series of conditions to judge victory or defeat, betting against Charlie and his sister.

They would provide money for Charlie and his sister to use, but if Charlie and his sister couldn’t meet those conditions, like when silver reaches a certain price or within a certain timeline, they could forfeit some of their interests to satisfy Charlie and his sister’s demands.

However, if they failed at this, Charlie and his sister had to pay them more returns, which was not merely cooperation, more like high-interest lending!

These financial betting agreements are widespread, as there will always be people who like to play stimulating games, and it can also be used as a form of motivation, which many do frequently.

For example, "as long as the subsidiary’s year-end performance reaches a certain level, the parent company won’t withdraw the dividends but instead reinvest them into the company," this is a clear incentive, yet it is essentially a betting agreement.

Capital never does anything naive and sweet; people often get blinded by the alluring prospect of rewards if they succeed, ignoring the troubles they might face if they fail.

Charlie and his sister actually could see the risks, but they couldn’t stop; they were practically bound by the pursuit of larger profits.

If they said, "Hey, we can stop now," they might appear on the newspaper’s front page the next day—"Renowned Silver Investors Charlie and His Sister Brutally Murdered in Home Invasion."

Yes, people wouldn’t even need to think about how the home invaders got into a tightly secured high-end community, or how they managed to kill security guards many times their number, nor how they killed that sibling.

People wouldn’t care, nor could they find out the truth which would be forever hidden.

As long as there’s profit margin left, those capitalists wouldn’t allow them to stop.

The Federation had broken a smuggling case before, with the smuggling value amounting to millions of Federation Sol; after the mastermind was arrested, many people didn’t think they could relax.

They believed the interrogation would be the battlefield and would engage in a "war of attrition" with the mastermind, but what surprised them was the mastermind, upon being arrested and locked in the investigation bureau, immediately volunteered to confess everything.

He detailed everything meticulously, including all the illegal activities.

The senior investigator from the FBI handling the case asked him why he confessed so easily, was it because he knew he couldn’t escape legal punishment?

The mastermind’s response was thought-provoking, he said, "I was kidnapped; everything I did was not out of my own will..."

Initially, he was merely a small-time smuggler, but once he controlled a stable route, his influence started expanding.

This expansion was unhealthy; everyone wanted to use his route to smuggle their goods, leading to safety and cooperation issues, and they entered a cooperative relationship with the mastermind to form a smuggling ring.

In fact, the mastermind smuggled little himself, and towards the later stages, he wasn’t even smuggling anything for himself anymore, but he couldn’t stop.

Whenever he told his "partners" he wanted out, many guns would be pointed at his head.

Either continue or die.

He was kidnapped, not by those partners, but by that safe smuggling route and the profits that smuggling brought!

Just like Charlie and his sister, didn’t they know that as silver prices reached higher, the risks also increased?

They knew, but they had to continue; they had become a flag that if they were to say they wouldn’t play anymore, silver would crash instantly.

Subsequently, numerous people would jump off buildings, including those big capitalists, and mining magnates!

So not only could Charlie and his sister not stop and say, "we’re done," they had to play even bigger, as more demands for profits had trapped them.

If they couldn’t fulfill those demands, they would be crushed by them.

This was why, even though silver prices increased, they didn’t seem to smile.

The higher silver rises, the closer to "truth", there will always be someone who breaks first!

Once the mask is pierced, silver crashes!

And they, Charlie and his sister, are very likely to die!

Sometimes madness isn’t for destruction, but for survival!

"Over two dollars more, but pushing the price higher is tough unless something else happens," Charlie (brother) remarked, frustrated. According to the final betting agreement, they had to raise the silver price above twenty dollars.

As long as it reached twenty dollars and one cent, they’d complete the betting agreement, allowing them to gain a substantial amount of money and additional rewards, thus enabling them to leave this game with countless money.

But twenty dollars, it was too difficult; their earlier plan was to have some small countries cooperate with them by using silver as the currency benchmarked precious metal.

Now this irrational small country emerged and prematurely triggered their deployment, causing them some concern.

Charlie (sister) reached out to pinch the pendant hanging around her neck before soon releasing it.

It was a rose-colored gem the size of a pigeon egg, gifted by Charlie (brother). "Perhaps we can test the market’s response, and if it’s favorable, maybe we can make a push."

Charlie (brother) hesitated; they had actually prepared for a long time, and if they couldn’t push it up this time, it would be troublesome; they might lose the betting agreement.

After a long contemplation, he solemnly nodded; dissent was meaningless since after this surge, it might trigger a wave of retail investors selling off.

The price might fall back, or even lower, and once the price drops, attempting to rise quickly might give people a sense that someone’s manipulating prices.

Therefore, they really didn’t have much time or many opportunities.

"Alright, let’s probe a little, hoping we get the results we want!"

Meanwhile, in Nagariel, immigrants were clearing wastelands.

He was clearing land outside the forest, expressing his dissatisfaction to some people, believing those with money and power had secured better lands while he was allocated land on the edge of a not so easy-to-clear forest.

He submitted his opinion just like throwing a stone into a lake, leaving him angry with no good way to handle it, so he continued to clear land furiously.

Because he was near the forest, behind it was a mountain range, so the deeper one ventured into the forest, the more random events occurred, like the gravel beneath his feet.

With a random hoe strike, his hands would numb, and occasionally he’d dig up a stone.

Small ones were fine; he would bend down to pick them up and throw them away.

But some large stones required digging a meter down without reaching the bottom, leaving him losing valuable ground for one single stone.

These situations were numerous, making him increasingly dissatisfied.

He just lowered his head to examine the stone’s size when he suddenly rubbed his eyes, what was that he saw?

He knelt on the ground, using his hands to sweep away soil mixed with small stones and stone fragments, not noticing how the sharp edges of those fragments cut his fingers.

Once he cleared all the dirt away, he saw it—a golden nugget gleaming like a dog’s head!

"It’s gold!" he exclaimed, then realized such matters shouldn’t be spoken aloud. He knelt down, put the nugget the size of a child’s head into his basket, covered it with dirt and sand, then walked towards the city without looking back.

He must present this to the city’s Mayor; being merely a commoner, he knew he couldn’t mine even if he discovered a gold mine.

Maybe the gold mine would only bring trouble, so rather than risk it, it was better to present this gold nugget to the Mayor and notify him.

Perhaps he’d receive some reward or at least avoid any troubles.

On his way, people asked why he wasn’t clearing land but running around. He said nothing, fearing he’d mistakenly say something that would complicate matters, keeping his head down as he rushed.

Not until dusk did he arrive at City Hall, hoping to see the Mayor.

An ordinary citizen wishing to meet the ruling status and directly converse with them sounded like fictional nonsense.

But surprisingly, the Mayor actually met with him and courteously asked why he wished to meet.

Everything felt like a dream.

He placed the dirt-covered golden nugget on the table, humbly narrating his discovery...