Darkstone Code

"The sun hasn’t risen yet, the cold wind is still blowing. If we smear sunscreen on and walk out of the house at this time, by tomorrow morning we’ll be looking at a bunch of ice sculptures..."

Thinking back now on how the Duncan Clan had gone all out to push the Security Law through Congress, everyone felt they’d just gained some new insight.

According to the provisions of the Security Law, the Duncan Clan could deploy a large number of private armed forces overseas to protect their industries and the lives of their employees.

In fact, everyone understood very clearly—those lords in Congress, the politicians, these capitalists—they all knew.

Once the bill passed, these privately armed forces overseas that were recognized by the Federation didn’t necessarily have to stay on the defensive.

When needed, they could also go on the offensive, just like Darkstone Security.

The Duncan Clan had deployed at least one private army of over ten thousand men overseas—

This was an army, not just a private armed force, because it had been set up strictly according to military systems, equipped with standardized gear, and with superiors and subordinates addressing each other as such.

Carving up the Duncan Clan’s domestic assets actually wasn’t hard at all; the Federation Government was already pushing for it to happen, so as long as one cooperated with the Federation Government, it was only a matter of time before the Duncan Clan’s industries were divided up.

When everyone was pointing their spearheads at them, given Mr. Jeruno’s capabilities and judgment, he wouldn’t resist; he would only do everything he could to extricate himself.

The Federation was only the most concentrated part of their family’s business, but it wasn’t all of it; even if they left the Federation, they could still live very well.

Once this group of people, no longer bound by Federation law, hid themselves in the international arena while holding in their hands terrifying private armed forces...

For those who had carved up their industries, that would be the beginning of a nightmare, without a doubt!

Lynch looked at those people, at those faces written all over with excitement and glee; they seemed not to understand that the Duncan Clan still had a lot of "attachments" right now.

These "attachments" forced them to obey the Federation’s laws and rules, but once those constraints were gone, that would be when they truly bared their claws and fangs!

The room was extremely quiet; no one wanted to end up as an ice sculpture.

The host was thinking as well; what Lynch had said wasn’t that hard to understand, though the bucket of cold water he’d thrown over everyone did make things a bit awkward.

After quite a while, the host finally asked, "Mr. Lynch, this story is very meaningful for us, so do you have any good way to keep us from making the same mistake?"

Some people might have thought Lynch would tell another story; others might have thought he would offer some advice, or something else.

But what none of them expected was that Lynch gave them an answer they never would have imagined, no matter what!

"Distribution according to work, gentlemen..."

Someone raised his hand. Lynch looked at him. "Mr. Lynch, I don’t quite understand what you mean?"

Lynch curled his lip. "No, you do. You just don’t want to believe it’s real, that’s all."

"What I mean is actually very simple: whoever has the ability eats more!"

Lynch had Darkstone Security in his hands, and he could also be said to be, at present, the largest and most powerful military contractor in the world.

Maybe the others didn’t have much leverage against the Duncan Clan, but when it came to dealing with these people, Lynch could pin them to the ground and crush them to death.

Aircraft, artillery, highly professional Tactical Squads—treat this as a war, and no one can hold out!

So naturally, the more he put in, the more he had to take out; otherwise all that effort would be worthless.

Mr. Wardrick frowned slightly as he looked at Lynch, and although Mr. Pato’s expression hardly changed, his eyes grew particularly deep.

This was never going to be a gathering that made everyone happy; Lynch had laid his ambitions bare—he wanted the biggest share!

But if you thought about it from the other side, what he said wasn’t exactly wrong.

If no one could keep the Duncan Clan under control, they would go mad and retaliate without regard for the consequences.

These people who had become one of the world’s top capital empires by drinking human blood weren’t going to be like those kindhearted rich merchants you find in some books, who’ll even go and help the poor.

The only thing on their minds was to grind people until flesh and blood came apart, then drink the blood and eat the meat!

They would absolutely retaliate, and in a brutally savage way—endless attacks, one after another.

When Akumal was still alive, he often said that violence couldn’t solve problems and could only breed hatred.

But everyone in this room knew that once you wiped the other side out to the last man, the hatred ended there!

Only violence can put an end to violence; only destruction itself can put an end to destruction!

And that also meant most people might not get the things they wanted to eat!

When they were leaving, Mr. Wardrick rode in Lynch’s car; he had something to say to Lynch.

"I was originally planning to find someone to recommend you for a Level promotion, but now it seems that’ll have to be put on hold for a bit."

Right now, Lynch’s breast badge was a triangular ear of wheat and a sun; once upgraded it would be the moon, and finally the eye.

Different levels within the Saint Harmony Association have completely different access privileges to what they can consult.

The Saint Harmony Association is not some nominal organization, but one that exists in reality. It not only has a full range of subordinate institutions, it also owns an extremely large library and exhibition hall.

Stored here are many "uniques," and even some things the outside world has never heard of at all!

For example, there are some prehistoric notebooks from deep within the Sethan Mountains that only Level Three members are allowed to view.

It’s said that some herders in the deep mountains suddenly ran into a violent storm, lost their way in the rain while driving some livestock, and hid in a cave deep in the mountains that had never been discovered by anyone.

There they found a huge pile of neatly arranged parchment scrolls, which they later brought back to their village, and happened to be discovered by a member of the Saint Harmony Association.

Not long after, that village vanished from the world, and those parchment scrolls were preserved in the "Holy Hall," the place with the highest security level in the Saint Harmony Association.

After being identified, translated, and verified by various Level Three members, it was finally discovered that they formed a complete set of scriptures composed of many texts, a true Bible whose history exceeds the Bible by nearly ten thousand years.

Within the Saint Harmony Association, it is called the Origin Scripture. It records the entire process of a god’s birth, maturation, rise to its peak, decline, and eventual extinction!

Many people believe it to be fake, fabricated, but with the scientific and non-scientific methods currently available, no evidence can be found that it is forged.

In other words, it is real.

So then, more than ten thousand years ago, who recorded these things? Do the gods mentioned within really exist? Why would gods also decay and die? These questions still have no answers.

But from that point on, members of the Saint Harmony Association began frantically collecting all sorts of things related to myths about gods—various scriptures, religious texts, various vessels and implements...

In fact, aside from these mystical, mumbo-jumbo things, there are many other items as well, including things like technological sharing among senior members.

And to be able to access these, one must at least be a Level Three member.

Many people don’t know this, including most members of the Saint Harmony Association: Level Three membership... is where things truly begin.

Originally, Mr. Wardrick thought that as long as he and the people he’d found nominated Lynch, his promotion would basically not be a problem.

But today his performance had been too aggressive, which would inevitably displease some people.

Not everyone can embrace the spirit of openness, freedom, and equality toward those who come after them. There will always be people who believe that the Federation’s current prosperity and strength are all built upon the foundation of their own past contributions.

This is actually quite ridiculous. Whether scientists, politicians, or capitalists, their contributions to the Federation... can’t be said to be nothing, but they’re just so-so.

Yet they believe that everything the Federation possesses now arises from their efforts.

So naturally, they also hope that latecomers like Lynch will maintain a respectful attitude toward them.

But Lynch simply isn’t that kind of person, so the matter of his nomination can only be put on hold for the moment.

As for later, if Lynch really can tear a big chunk of fat off the Duncan Clan, then by virtue of strength, he will also be qualified for promotion.

Lynch could feel Mr. Wardrick’s goodwill. He was just unclear about the inner workings of the higher echelons of the Saint Harmony Association; after all, that place is simply too far away from ordinary people.

"I don’t like these secret meetings. There will always be people using ’we share the same ideals’ to talk you into giving up some of your interests."

"Human ideals are the sky; so are rats’. But we and the rats are not friends!"

Lynch’s response was as sharp as ever. What he said was, in fact, also a description of a real phenomenon, because the Saint Harmony Association really isn’t entirely made up of people like him or Mr. Wardrick; there are also some small fry.

For example, those outstanding officers in the student council of Saint Harmony University, and outstanding students: as long as they perform well enough, they have a chance to become reserve members.

And their value lies in providing all kinds of services to higher-level members!

For ordinary people, getting into Saint Harmony Academy is a guarantee of a successful life’s path. But what they don’t know is that the "success" in their eyes is merely the qualification to contribute their abilities to those who are truly successful!

Facing Lynch’s reply, Mr. Wardrick did not comment further. Instead, he moved on to the issue of the Duncan Clan’s overseas armed forces.

"The Federation Government is now putting increasing pressure on the Duncan Clan. Once they ultimately can’t compromise, we will inevitably stand on the Federation Government’s side."

Lynch suddenly asked, "For justice?"

The line sounded extremely sarcastic. Mr. Wardrick rolled his eyes. "For hell’s sake, can’t you talk like a normal person?"

Lynch laughed and said, "Then it seems it’s for profit!"

Mr. Wardrick was a bit helpless. "I mean, if things really reach that point, and they start making trouble abroad, can you keep them down?"

Lynch shook his head, which made Mr. Wardrick slightly startled. "You can’t?"

"It’s not that I can’t." Lynch looked at him and lit a cigarette. "It’s that the way you put it is wrong."

"What you should be asking is whether I can crush them the way you crush an ant!"

"And then I would answer you..."

"Of course, my friend!"