Chapter 525.2: I Will Consider Giving Myself A Few Days Off

How could trash like them live better than the old town mayor on Baker Street or the farmers of Brown Farm?

Liszt had thought about it for several nights and still could not understand. In the end, he could only come to one conclusion...

They truly had good fathers.

The survivors who had the courage to stand outside the shelters and face radioactive dust and the endless winter were indeed heroes.

Not only had they endured the despair of falling from utopia into the abyss, they had even helped their useless descendants finish the tasks that should have been their responsibilities.

And that was the worst part.

They had created a fairytale world for their children, to the point that 200 years later, the nobles saw the wasteland as something that couldn’t affect them.

And their interpretation was not wrong, either. For their wasteland truly had ended long ago...

At that moment, there was a knock outside the study. His most capable subordinate, Han Long, pushed open the door and walked in. “Sir, the administrator is here.”

Liszt tossed the card aside and immediately turned toward him. “Please let him in.”

“Yes.” Han Long nodded slightly, his bionic eye sweeping left and right before he turned and left the study.

A short while later, Chu Guang pushed the door open and stepped inside with a smile. “Hey! You have a really big house!”

He had not brought any guards and was still wearing his exoframe. Liszt had long been used to it, to the point that he had even replaced all his sofas with iron-framed ones so he would have a place to host him.

“You should be living in a bigger one. I happen to have a new house that I won’t be using for a while. Why don’t...”

“The environment inside the shelter is good enough.”

“But I’ve seen your residents quite enthusiastic about building nice houses.” Liszt smiled and advised him, “The shelter is ultimately too cramped. Even if you don’t mind, you shouldn’t let the future administrator’s wife and the future heirs of the New Alliance live in a stifling environment.”

Chu Guang chuckled softly, “We’ve known each other for so long. Do you still not understand me?”

Liszt fell silent for a moment, then sighed lightly and gave up on that unrealistic idea, leaning back in his chair. “To be honest, the longer I’ve known you, the less I understand you... Sometimes when I’m in front of you, I even start to feel afraid.”

“Have I ever done anything to make you afraid?”

“No.”

Seeing him refuse to elaborate, Chu Guang vaguely guessed something. He smiled and spoke with a hint of meaning. “Brown still runs his farm. He accepted our reforms, freed his slaves, disbanded his mercenaries, and the past was written off. We allowed him to continue living on his land as a citizen of the New Alliance. And the one who carried out this task was Luca, the mayor of Dawn City whom he had nearly executed. You see, we can even forgive our enemies. You have never done anything to wrong us, so what is there to be afraid of?”

Liszt shook his head. “The mismatch between wealth and status is the original sin. In the inner city, I can at least buy off nobles and even become one. But here, I have no means of becoming a citizen of the shelter. I cannot understand how you operate, nor do I understand what you really want at times. No matter what, I only hope that when you one day need money, you’ll give me the chance to offer it to you.”

Chu Guang couldn’t help but frown. “Why can’t you adjust your thinking? The New Alliance is the New Alliance. We follow our rules. We’re not like any other survivor settlement... Look at Bucky. He’s barely still human, and he still lives happily here every day.”

Liszt answered helplessly, “He’s a resident of Ideal City. Even if he commits the worst crime imaginable, someone will cover for him... Besides, I can’t see his face.”

Chu Guang sighed, “I’ve said it many times. Your identity doesn’t matter in the New Alliance. Even if he becomes unrecognizable to his own father, as long as he recognizes us, we will accept him.”

Liszt eventually revealed a bitter smile. “I hope you always keep your word... So, what do you want me to do this time?”

Seeing that Liszt already realized his visit had a purpose, Chu Guang no longer beat around the bush. He leaned back in the chair and spoke with lively excitement. “I plan to issue something called a bond.”

“What is that?”

“A financial instrument that solves both our funding problem and the nobles’ problem of having nothing to invest in.”

Liszt cleared his throat. “If you need money, you can just tell me. I can lend it to you.”

Chu Guang laughed, “Why would I need money? The New Alliance needs money. And the New Alliance will always need money. We need huge amounts of chips to purchase Boulder Town’s products and expand our market. How much can you lend me? A hundred million?”

Liszt’s scalp tingled. “That... is indeed a bit difficult.”

He never expected the administrator’s appetite to be so large.

Chu Guang spread his hands and continued, “Right? This isn’t a cake one person can eat alone. The nobles’ pockets are stuffed full of chips. Why not put the money they don’t need right now into something profitable?”

Liszt stroked his chin with interest, eyes narrowing slightly. “That does sound a little interesting...”

Chu Guang continued slowly, “We can offer five-year and ten-year bonds. The total issuance would be 10 billion and 20 billion respectively. They can be purchased with chips and redeemed with chips. It’s completely fair, and the most important part is that it’s safe. The coupon rates are 3% and 4% respectively. Take the ten-year bond for example. A bond worth 100 chips pays 4 chips yearly, and at the end of the tenth year, the 100-chip principal is paid back in full.”

Liszt’s gaze flickered as he keenly sensed the administrator’s intent. “So this splits the debt... Now not only banks can invest. Medium and large companies... Even individuals can participate.”

Chu Guang smiled. “Exactly! We’ll even issue physical certificates and provide electronic bookkeeping. Bond holders can trade freely on our platform. So even if someone urgently needs money, they can cash out their bonds with only a small service fee.”

Unfortunately, Liszt still did not seem to grasp his true intent. Only his instincts were telling him that Chu Guang wasn’t doing it purely out of goodwill.

“Then why not go to Malvern?” After staring at him a moment, Liszt could not help asking, “I run factories, not stuff like this.”

Chu Guang shook his head. “Malvern is an old fox. He wants to get something from me, but he will never allow me to use borrowed money to repay old debt. Starting with that 200 million chip loan, every loan between us and Boulder Town Bank strictly dictates how the loan can be used, and the money must remain in the bank under their supervision.”

He paused, then continued, “So I need two issuance channels for chip-denominated bonds. But I guarantee that the bonds issued through both channels will have the same exercise rights. One is issued by the New Alliance Central Bank, and the other through Boulder Town Bank.”

“I consider you one of us. So I want you to handle the New Alliance’s channel.”

Liszt stared dumbly at Chu Guang, shocked he had even revealed something like using borrowed money to repay old debts.

He swallowed hard and asked cautiously, “You... Do you really intend to repay them?”

Chu Guang instantly shot him a strange look. “If I didn’t intend to repay the debt, why would I go through all this trouble?”

Liszt was silent for a moment, then forced himself to speak. “I’ll... I’ll try.”

He had to listen to the New Alliance’s wishes.

There was no choice. After all, it was the New Alliance that made him who he was.

Without Liszt Factory, he would never have become a noble of the Inner City. Forget raising money. If Chu Guang asked him to kill someone, he would at least have to think about how to get it done.

“Go try, then!” Chu Guang rose from the sofa and walked to the study door. He paused, glanced back at Liszt, and encouraged him with a smile. “Do your best. The New Alliance’s business opportunities are all written in the newspaper. I’ll cooperate with you as much as I can. Believe me. If this works, both the New Alliance and Boulder Town will thank you. If it really doesn’t work, that’s fine too. I’ll find someone else.”

Liszt answered respectfully, “I will do everything I can.”

The study door closed.

Listening to the footsteps fade away, Liszt leaned back in his chair and rubbed his aching temples.

A total issuance of 10 billion and 20 billion... Any normal person would be scared away by such numbers. The esteemed administrator truly had given him a difficult problem.

But at that moment, his gaze fell on the black card on the desk, and a sudden clarity rose in his heart.

Picking up the card again and playing with it in his fingers, his eyes grew increasingly excited as he muttered softly, “Maybe... This really isn’t that hard...”

...

While Liszt ordered his men to pack for a trip back to Boulder Town, something interesting was happening there.

The Survivor’s Daily, which had recently taken all of Boulder Town by storm, nearly costing Mr. House his job, finally ran into trouble.

The door to the office had been sealed. A few guards stood at the entrance, shoving away the crowd that had gathered to watch.

“Move along!”

“If you don’t want trouble, don’t get nosy!”

Hearing their stern tone, the sensible onlookers scattered.

Only one man remained, calling out anxiously, “We’re customers waiting for the new issue... We’re not here to gawk!”

He was the owner of the Walnut Tavern, the one by the industrial zone. His name was Tang.

After work, laborers often came to his place to pick up discarded cigarette butts to smoke, and they would also ask the literate to read the free newspapers out loud.

Though he did not particularly like those gloomy poor folks, they were basically his only customers. And when they were in high spirits, they would still buy a beer, or even purchase a copy of the paper to take home as a keepsake.

If only for the sake of that beer, he felt he should at least speak up for them.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

But the two guards exchanged a glance, burst into laughter, and kicked this country bumpkin aside, mocking him as he tumbled to the ground.

“Scram!”

“There’s no such thing anymore!”

Meanwhile, upstairs in the office...

Hearing the decree issued by City Hall, Hal felt his vision go black and nearly fainted. He glared at the guard reading the order, wishing he could kill the man with his eyes.

But royal authority was useless there. Boulder Town’s soldiers did not care about princes from the desert. At most, it saved him from being punched.

“Suspended?! Why?!” Hal roared, spittle flying.

The guard looked at him with open mockery. “City Hall thinks you’re spreading false messages. Who told you to fool around every day instead of doing proper work?”

Hal’s face turned red with anger. Clutching the Playboy’s Daily in his hands, his fingers trembled as he finally choked out, “But that was just a joke! It’s not even a real message!”