Darkstone Code

Mariluo descended into chaos once again.

The Congress members, the Ministry of Defense, and Mr. President, who were privy to the inside story, all breathed a sigh of relief.

The current situation is very clear: whoever refrains from firing to start a war will be attacked by the Federation.

The message has already been privately conveyed, naturally, they wouldn’t make it... too obvious. They would subtly and discreetly express the Federation’s concern over the Mariluo situation.

It’s like the Federation deployed a field army on the border between the Federation and Mariluo, claiming to be ready to enter Mariluo anytime, anywhere, to help the Mariluo people build a peaceful nation. But everyone knows their true purpose.

Beigaao’s longing for peace ultimately did not arrive. The warlords suffered significant casualties in the great explosion, and under the pressure from the Federation, they started to attack each other.

For the sake of peace, they had ceased hostilities for nearly two years, but to destroy it all took just one day!

Peace may never truly belong to Mariluo!

There’s also an interesting piece of news: Beigaao’s only son had already crossed the border, but upon learning that his father died in an "extremist assassination," he resolutely returned to the country, claiming he was determined to fulfill Beigaao’s legacy and make peace the sole color of Mariluo.

A great ideal indeed, having ideals is undoubtedly good, but sometimes ideals need to align with reality. Those impossible ideals... better let them go.

In fact, no one is to blame, not Beigaao, not his son, only blame them for being too close to the Federation!

On the weekend, Lynch took Vera and her son to the amusement park. The operations of Darkstone Fund in the first half of the year were very stable, with virtually no failed investment projects, and the funds were very stable without any issues.

Actually, for a Foundation, the security of funds is more important than the choice of investment projects.

Luckily, Vera helps Lynch oversee everything, Lynch trusts her greatly, and she has proven herself worthy of Lynch’s trust with her actions.

The little boy who used to be very small now seems to be eight or nine or around ten years old.

It’s unclear if federation people tend to appear more mature; the boy seems more mature than Lynch imagined a nine-year-old would be.

In build and appearance, he looks more like a young man of twelve or thirteen.

He is playing with the babysitter, a woman in her early thirties, not much younger than Vera.

The economic recession and the Great Depression devastated her family and job, forcing her to work to sustain her life.

Sometimes, reality is very cruel and helpless. She needs to accompany Vera’s son to earn a salary from Vera, to support her own son.

She can only give her motherly love to someone else’s child before her eyes; what she can leave to her own child is only a mother’s responsibility.

But there’s nothing she can do; that’s life.

"They have a good relationship." Lynch watched the two from a distance, the babysitter’s smile was genuine, which was a good sign.

Vera nodded slightly, "I’m getting busier and busier, I have to find someone to accompany him, he has always lacked family care, but fortunately, he is very sensible."

Lynch held Vera’s hand, tilted his head to look at her, "You can delegate some unimportant work to others, there’s no need to handle everything yourself."

As Lynch’s businesses expanded, the transactions of these companies ultimately connected with Darkstone Fund, and some were not just direct one-on-one relationships.

Vera must ensure these funds did not encounter problems, and were not embezzled unnoticed, which involves a tremendous workload.

Though there are now small calculators, they don’t contribute significantly to the original workload, merely save some calculation time, but the heavy work remains heavy.

Vera often had to work late into the night to get some rest!

For her, this is her responsibility, a responsibility that must be fulfilled.

She’s living in Lynch’s villa, enjoying a high salary, and even her own child is enjoying the best of everything; she must show her value.

She worries if she doesn’t do anything, someday Lynch might "abandon" her.

Everyone ages one day, she is much older than Lynch; she can’t attract Lynch forever.

Lynch nodded, "As long as you’re happy, don’t force yourself so hard!"

They shifted their focus back to the boy and the babysitter. After a few minutes, Vera suddenly mentioned something Lynch hadn’t anticipated.

"Gap will be released next year; he’s been writing to me recently, hoping to see the child..."

She never knew how to bring it up, but after considering, whether Gap’s release or what follows, Lynch would certainly find out.

Lynch arranged people to protect the boy. Vera is important, avoiding some who might attempt to control the boy through Vera. Thus, Lynch arranged protection for her and her son.

If Gap comes to see them, Lynch would definitely know.

Lynch didn’t have much of a reaction to this at the time, just a bit surprised, "I remember his sentence was ten years, wasn’t it?"

As he spoke, he patted his forehead, "Oh, I remembered!"

It’s quite interesting when you think about it, Gap was incarcerated in the same prison cell with Mike, and he got some information from Mike, then passed it on to Lynch.

Moreover, he helped prison staff, including the Prison Director, with tax avoidance, earning everyone’s recognition. The Prison Director voluntarily reported Gap’s excellent conduct in prison to the Ministry of Justice.

After evaluating Gap according to the guidelines for sentence reduction, the Ministry of Justice reduced his sentence three times.

The original ten-year sentence required only five years for release, which isn’t surprising in the Federation. Many prisoners have their sentences reduced much more drastically.

"If he wants to see him, let him," Lynch had no reason to stop this, after all. He’s not the child’s father, and he hasn’t formed a new family with Vera, so there’s no reason to prevent a father from seeing his child.

Vera was originally preparing some explanations and even considered stopping Gap from seeing the child, but these weren’t needed.

Happy times are always short, as it was for the little boy.

After a whole day of wild fun at the amusement park, playing nearly all the items, the little boy felt unprecedented satisfaction!

Especially with his mom, Lynch, and the nanny all accompanying him, which made him, a boy who had lacked family warmth and care since childhood, experience something called happiness.

He actually knew that his father was about to be released from prison. He and Vera moved to Bupen earlier because he suffered school bullying while in York State.

At that time, he was very young, just in a full day-care class in the community. Yet, even there, some slightly older kids, not yet of primary school age or planning to delay entering primary school, always bullied him, saying his dad was a criminal.

Gap’s trial was quite sensational back then because it involved the collapse of an important pillar enterprise in Sabin City. Many knew about it, and naturally, the community they lived in was aware too.

Adults would talk during the day, and the children would hear and pass it on to the little boy.

He almost became reclusive.

Fortunately, moving away in time reversed this.

In the evening, the four of them dined together at a high-end restaurant. The little boy seemed very well-behaved. As he grew older, he understood more and realized that the happiness they now enjoyed depended on Lynch, so he acted very obediently.

He had been to such restaurants many times before and knew how to behave, but it was his nanny who seemed unsure.

A little lady from an ordinary family had never been to such an upscale restaurant, and she even felt an impulse to escape!

She felt out of place with everything here. These feelings weren’t present before entering the restaurant.

Even though she took Vera’s salary to care for a child similar in age to her own son, she had never felt inferior, but at that moment, she did.

She shouldn’t have come; she didn’t even know where to place her hands.

The silver tableware and crystal glasses glowed charmingly under the lights, the band’s music played light and soothing, and everyone around looked so special!

Just a glance could tell you these were the "upper-class" people often spoken of, but she wasn’t. She was possibly the only "lower-class" person here.

She couldn’t stand the atmosphere here; she felt like a clown.

The little boy noticed her unease, mustered up courage to hold her hand, and looked at her with encouraging and comforting eyes, as if saying "It’s okay" and "I’m here."

This helped relieve the nanny’s tense emotions somewhat.

The entire dining experience was pleasant, except the nanny was somewhat restrained, not eating much, otherwise, overall it was pleasant.

At half-past nine, the nanny hugged the little boy, reflecting on all they experienced during the day, which still left her restless.

If anything made her restless, it was possibly the attitude of wealthy people towards money!

They were in the best amusement park, and each activity costs at least a few dollars, highest being a dozen or twenty to thirty dollars.

But to this family, it wasn’t a burden. She and the little boy together spent over a thousand dollars in one day.

This money... would be enough for two months of her salary!

As for dinner, it broke her limit of understanding wealth, a meal costing over a thousand dollars...

Her own child still racks his brains on how to get two dollars in pocket money from her, truly an unfair world.

She cuddled the child in her arms, and the little boy hugged her back.

Vera often worked late, and when she wasn’t home, the little boy would feel inexplicable fear, needing company, so with Vera’s tacit permission, she would sleep with the boy.

With some confusion, incomprehension, and envy, along with a hint of jealousy, she gradually fell into a dream...