Chapter 296: Chapter 259: Offshore Finance, The Gold Queen
After Catherine and Byron had reached a riding agreement, she smiled tearfully and reached out to take the entire spatial pocket filled with a vast fortune.
She soon used the sharp sense of wealth that Transcendents of the Gold Sequence possess to roughly estimate the value of this batch of treasures.
If the Holy Relics of immeasurable value weren’t accounted for, the worth would be about half of what the Lancaster family’s treasury held initially.
Despite having gone through the Hundred Years’ War and the Thirty Years’ Throne War, which left the family treasury depleted, this wealth was truly astonishing.
Besides gold and silver, they now also had quite a number of Holy Relics in their hands.
They had already collected the No. 3, No. 5, No. 6, No. 8, and No. 12 Crystal Skulls, with Byron alone controlling five. Add to that one each from the city-states of Tayapan and Uxmal, and the whereabouts of seven Crystal Skulls had been determined. The task of collecting the thirteen skulls was quietly more than halfway complete.
Moreover, they already had accumulated items such as the Golden Toilet, the shaman mask, the Golden Code, The First Overseas Expansion Order of the Great Nautical Age, and the Iron-smelting Blast Furnace; as well as the spoils from this adventure: the Universal Travelogue, Faustian Pact, Scales of Domination (one opportunity), 882 Azkek’s Cursed Coins, and the Golden Great Devil Card.
The powerful Holy Relics in their hands were more abundant than ever before. Even compared with the major powers of the Bantaan Archipelago, they certainly didn’t look destitute.
After a rough tally, Catherine, like Byron, instantly lost all her worries. Shipbuilding plans, funds for gifts, her marriage fund... Every heavy burden weighing on her little treasury vanished like smoke. Moreover, for a long time in the foreseeable future, such superfluous things as worries would not trouble her again.
"What can dispel worries if not sudden wealth!"
"Byron, we really struck it rich this time! My little treasury and your marriage fund are both sorted out! HEE-HEE-HEE..."
The golden divine light in Catherine’s eyes was even more dazzling than that of the treasures, her body feeling so light it seemed she might float away on the spot. She hugged Byron’s neck excitedly, jumping and shouting, even her teak slippers flying far from her feet.
Seeing the girl so happy, a smile naturally spread across Byron’s lips. Back on the ship in the First Circulation Zone, Catherine had been the only person who remembered his birthday. She had snuck out early in the morning to make him a cake. At that time, he secretly vowed to ensure Catherine would never again live in exile but would instead live a happy and wealthy life like a princess. At this moment, he truly felt that for the girl’s smile, all his life-and-death struggles were worthwhile, and every enemy he had cut down along the way had died a deserved death.
He turned, lifted the girl in his arms, and spun twice amid piles of gold and silver treasure before promising her, "Sister, rest assured, this is just the beginning. We will definitely become richer and richer, and we will never have to worry about material things again."
Actually, their various enterprises were highly profitable. These included the Pioneer Guiding Colonial Trading Company’s control over the Eastern trade routes, monopoly agreements signed with major city-states, and the Pioneer Bank’s lending business. Additionally, there was property development by the Governor’s Mansion, Tyman Docking Services’ cargo and ship management, trade levies, and the Torrent Fortress’s arms trade. Each of these industries was a veritable cash cow.
But to develop rapidly within a short period, relying solely on the profits from legitimate business for reinvestment was just too inefficient. Profit margins of no more than 300% simply couldn’t satisfy their need for high-speed expansion. With the burgeoning financial industry, these practices had become outdated.
This time’s plunder was far beyond previous occasions, but as the saying goes, gold is meant to be spent. Limited wealth couldn’t support their boundless ambitions.
Perhaps it’s time to give this world another little shock.
Using the princess carry he learned from Violet, he held his sister—tall but still looking quite delicate in his arms—and seated her on the sofa in the study.
SNAP!
As Catherine watched with a puzzled gaze, he snapped his fingers. Six maids walked out from the flames, lifting their skirts and curtsying respectfully. "Master, Young Miss."
Byron casually granted his sister secondary management privileges to the Faustian Pact. Then he explained to her in detail the use of this Holy Relic and his own upcoming plans.
"A virtual trading platform? A stock exchange market? An offshore financial center?"
Initially, Catherine didn’t understand these terms. But the more she listened, the brighter her eyes shone—not metaphorically, they genuinely sparkled, and she even involuntarily shifted into the golden vertical pupils of a Mithril Dragon. Each term signified money, an even vaster sum than what they had obtained from this adventure!
Stock trading was simple; Catherine understood it right away. It meant packaging their high-quality industries for public offering, raising large funds from the general populace through stock issuances to support the development of their own enterprises. Using other people’s money for one’s own business allowed one to grow and strengthen as quickly as possible. There wasn’t even a need to pay dividends to shareholders.
As for the offshore financial center, that was even more formidable. It involved extending the International Port business further, using a series of tax exemption policies to attract multinational corporations to register and settle. It would provide convenience for certain enterprises, organizations, and individuals to evade taxes and launder money, gradually creating a "tax haven" for big companies, powerful figures, and the wealthy from various countries.
In the past, even if one had such ideas, they were difficult to realize. The flow of money and goods always left traces, and the Iron Laws of Sovereignty and tax departments of various countries were not to be trifled with. But the First-Class Holy Relic, the Faustian Pact, could serve as an invisible and intangible trading platform, ensuring absolute fairness and enforcement, making the offshore financial center a genuine possibility. Customers wouldn’t even know that the physical platform of the exchange was in the Tayman Archipelago.
In Byron’s mind, no one was better suited to maximizing the potential of this "trading platform" than his sister, the Mithril Knight of the Gold Sequence.
Of course, these great inventions for making money from money held significant meaning for Catherine’s own transcendent journey. It was no less significant than a Philosopher’s Stone to a Grand Artificer like Violet.
The promotion ceremonies for the Gold Sequence were mostly quite simple in form. Of course, this "simplicity" was only formal and didn’t imply that meeting the ceremony’s requirements was easy—in fact, it was considered by many to be one of the most difficult tasks in the world: earning money!
Stagnant funds that didn’t circulate were useless; only when used in global trade and commercial settlements could they be considered true assets. The Silver Law had a complex evaluation system specifically for assessing the degree of this money’s participation in world trade and finance. As long as her personal assets reached the standard and she maintained proper asset management for a certain period, she could naturally advance. This period was usually counted in years. The greater the amount and the higher the degree of commercial participation, the shorter the time required by the promotion ceremony.
If she had continued with her previous assets, Catherine would have had to wait at least another half a year to advance, a speed already enviable to countless peers. But at her current level of wealth, she would likely only need to wait until the end of this month and could smoothly advance to the Third Order before the end of April.
"Once we use the First-Class Holy Relic, the Faustian Pact, to build the most private stock exchange and offshore financial center in the future," Byron continued, "and after receiving a multitude of capital injections, we could even issue our own world currency, collecting seigniorage from the entire world. That is the ultimate Secret Art of piracy—please sign here! Helping you, Sister, claim a Fifth Order crown like ’Finance Queen’ or ’Gold King’ would be effortless. It is then that the Sacred Golden Empire would truly live up to its name."
If I could successfully reclaim the crown of Hightins, crown Violet as the first female Pirate King, and then use [The Three Musketeers] to stir things up properly... HISS! That scene... The most noble crown in this world is merely the [Papal Tiara], symbolizing Hell, the Mortal World, Heaven, and the legislative, judicial, and executive powers.
It took a good while for the siblings, who had just outlined a grand blueprint and even conducted a feasibility assessment, to calm their emotions.
Byron then recounted the gains from the trip to Silvergold Island to Catherine in detail, particularly mentioning the Barbary Pirate, Blue Hair, as well as Andrew Lancaster’s situation. He didn’t even hide the responsibilities and risks of being a Lamplighter. Catherine was not just his sister, but also his Regent King. It might be acceptable to hide things from the former to prevent her from worrying, but hiding things from the latter would be utterly irresponsible toward this dangerous, rebellious enterprise.
"Uncle Andrew isn’t suited to appear at the International Port and has already gone to Torrent Fortress with Violet. I’m planning to give him one of the two Prime Minister positions of The King’s Right Hand. When you have time, you both can meet through the Golden Law and catch up."
Learning that another Lancaster was alive, Catherine was naturally happy but didn’t miss the opportunity to tease Byron. "Uncle Andrew was lost on Silvergold Island the year I turned eight. I still remember his last visit to our house when he deliberately teased me, asking if, when I grew up, I wanted to marry you and take the Lancaster name. My impression of him was that of a slightly offbeat, handsome uncle. I hope he won’t ask me such awkward questions again."
Hearing this, Byron’s face reddened. As everyone knew, according to tradition across the Old Continent, there was generally only one situation under which a woman would change her surname. He hadn’t realized his uncle had shown a talent for matchmaking even back then.
Once the serious matters were concluded, Catherine stood up and pulled Byron up as well. "You haven’t had dinner yet, have you? I’ll personally cook a feast for you."
Although he had been away for many days and greatly missed his sister’s cooking, Byron had to refuse. "No, I’ve already informed the Newman family. I’m about to board the [Musketeer] with ’Bill’ to go to Royal Port and pledge our loyalty."
He wrapped his arms around Catherine, his chin resting on her smooth, fair shoulder. A lock of hair on his forehead amusingly stood up, flashing blue from bottom to top. In a mimicking voice, he intoned, "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP..."
After a while, he finally let go, the fatigue from days of travel wiped clean from his face, and he gave her a big smile. "Recharged and full of energy! The Barnacle Crab’s cooldown period has also passed. I’m leaving now."
The girl playfully slapped his chest, as solid and reliable as a shield. "Always fooling around. It’s not like I’d blame you for never being home. Go on, we’ll have that feast tomorrow."
She then stood on tiptoes to tidy his clothes, exclaiming, "My brother is the most handsome in the world!"
She watched him fly out the window, disappearing into the night in an instant.
Previously, Byron and "Bill" had saved Rear Admiral Newman’s life. The latter had promised to marry his daughter to one of them and to help them get promoted and become wealthy. As the Kingdom had been struggling to replenish the Strait Fleet and its Privateer Fleet lacked skilled hands, Newman had specially promised that once they advanced to the Third Order, he would arrange for them to be formally appointed as commodores or even Rear Admirals in the Navy (Chapter 166).
That would officially induct them into the ranks of the Kingdom’s Regular Army. They would be able to command influence in both legitimate and illegitimate spheres and sit on equal footing with colonial governors from various nations. Attaining such a position was equivalent to stepping over the threshold into the ruling class; even upon returning to their homeland, they would be respectfully addressed as "My Lord." Such status was worth far more than any courtly title.
In the past, Byron naturally wouldn’t have cared for it. But now, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rightfully seize military power while the Heitings colony’s defenses were vulnerable. No matter how large a Privateer Ship might be, it still owed tribute to the maritime courts. In contrast, a Colonial Fleet, however small, was a regular force entitled to military funding.
After all, in this world, what could be more delightful than using your enemy’s money and your enemy’s men to support your own troops?