Darkstone Code

On the morning of Tuesday, two weeks later, Lynch was invited to Mr. Pato’s estate.

Lynch gave him enough time to prepare a gift for himself, and this time Mr. Pato went to the door to personally welcome Lynch, followed by some important members of the family, including the next generation’s primary heir.

Of course, it wasn’t Anna.

Anna lacks the ability and the charisma to become the next heir, although from a long-term perspective, her holding shares in Lynch’s private foundation can be considered a very good deal.

But for the family, it isn’t the optimal choice.

Any large family actually faces the same problem after reaching its peak.

The first problem is how to find a path upward again and enhance the family’s strength.

The second problem is how to stop the overall downward trend and stabilize the family completely.

Anna isn’t suitable, her performance hasn’t reached the level Mr. Pato desires, so she was excluded from being the primary heir.

Mr. Pato introduced some important members to Lynch, hoping Lynch, or rather hoping they would have more interactions with him.

This is one of the ways to build a social network, and an important way—inheritance!

Of course, it’s just "one of the ways"; besides inheritance, there are more methods, which is what we call "polymorphism".

The group entered the estate, and the people dispersed, leaving behind one person slightly older than Lynch to serve Mr. Pato.

This guy is Mr. Pato’s son, who is already thirty-five or thirty-six years old, but due to a life of comfort with no worries, and good maintenance, he looks younger.

They didn’t go directly to any indoor room but went to the horse arena at the back of the estate, as Mr. Pato had mentioned giving Lynch a gift, which was a horse.

"Do you like horseback riding?", Mr. Pato asked.

Lynch thought for a moment and responded somewhat ambiguously, "I haven’t ridden much, but I don’t dislike it."

Mr. Pato’s face showed more of a smile, "That’s wonderful, I found a good horse with an excellent pedigree; its parents, grandmother and grandfather, and even further ancestors, are top in this field."

"When I saw it, it gave me a very special feeling."

"Healthy, strong, running like a bolt of lightning!"

"If I were thirty... no, twenty years younger, I wouldn’t be willing to give it away!"

It’s evident that Mr. Pato really likes this horse; most aristocrats do indeed love horses.

In Gafura, every aristocrat might have various different hobbies; some like this, some like that, but when it comes to horses, nearly everyone loves horses, enjoys raising them, loves riding them themselves, and likes horse racing.

Every aristocratic family has its own horse arena, and a few to a group of horses.

Because in aristocratic culture, horses represent a very important part; having a good horse means that one can escape from enemy pursuit during war unbeaten, and it makes one seem even more majestic.

This habit left over from the medieval era is continuously preserved and even becomes an instinct.

The Akiner Clan, claiming to be noble descendants, having such tradition is not surprising.

It’s just that in the Federation, people’s passion for horses is far less intense than that of the Gafura people!

At least until now, the Federation doesn’t have any high-level horse racing competitions; many horse racing events are spontaneous, organized by the public or local government.

Certain cities in the West and North do indeed have them, but the atmosphere... is just so-so.

The two spoke as they arrived outside a stable, a standalone stable, whose exterior alone looked more aesthetically pleasing and luxurious than most Middle-Class houses.

Inside is the same.

When the stable’s door was pulled open, one could feel a breeze, but this breeze wasn’t the air-conditioned kind, it was a natural breeze formed by wind flowing through the cool space.

It slowly blew, dispersing the heat from one’s body.

The intricately build stable was large, with specific places for horse play, horse bathing, places for horse and rider interaction...

And Lynch saw at least four servants attending to this horse.

People often say human life is precious, yet somehow, human life sometimes seems less than animals, how ridiculous!

The three walked inside and saw the horse Mr. Pato spoke of, a very sturdy horse, a black horse.

Its coat seemed like satin, and you could see every hair reflecting light which is a sign of a healthy horse.

When it saw Mr. Pato, it shook its head and then continued eating the feed, which wasn’t much cheaper than beef.

"Don’t worry, it’s very friendly to people..."

Mr. Pato led Lynch inside the pen, "You can try stroking it, feel it..."

When Lynch’s palm touched the horse, his palm’s warmth made the black horse glance back at him and then quickly turn around.

"Did you feel it?" Mr. Pato asked Lynch, and Lynch nodded his head. He asked again, "What is it?"

Lynch withdrew his hand. "Power!"

"Yes, power!" Mr. Pato was very satisfied with Lynch’s answer because this was exactly what he wanted to demonstrate.

A healthy horse, just by enchanting it, one can feel the terrifying power within its body!

This horse cost Mr. Pato about one million two hundred thousand; it is still very young.

For those from the lower middle class, they might think Mr. Pato was out of his mind to spend so much money on such a horse.

But actually, for people who love horses and have wealth, this deal is quite worthwhile. As long as it can prove its excellence, eventually the essence of this horse’s life could be sold by the gram, and each gram is very expensive!

But now, it belonged to Lynch.

Originally, Lynch had no interest in horseback riding; in the Federation, there is no need for horses given the abundance of transport infrastructure in both the city and countryside.

This is unlike Gafura, where some remote places still have old dirt roads, and there is at least a demand for horseback riding.

But at this moment, Lynch thought differently.

Anything that excels to the utmost can attract people even if in itself it is not something particularly special!

He did not refuse, but after expressing his gratitude, arranged for people to receive the horse and take care of those attending it, as Lynch did not have his own stable or related facilities. He had to find someone to specially build a ranch for himself.

Having a horse, one cannot constantly keep it tied in the stable; it must be taken out for a run at times.

The three of them returned to the room, and Mr. Pato’s son brought them fruits and coffee. Subsequently, Mr. Pato brought up the matters following the gifting.

"I seriously thought about the things you mentioned at last week’s gathering after returning home, and I believe I missed an important opportunity."

He was referring to the "Security Law." When the "Security Law" was initially established, it had no thresholds, which facilitated the Duncan Clan in quickly forming their private armed forces.

But soon after, the "Security Law" was gated, intended to prevent the proliferation of private armed groups.

Despite the clause indicating that the "Security Law" was enacted to protect the overseas Federation citizens’ property and life safety, allowing civilians to provide their own armed protection when the Federation Government is occupied.

But those armed personnel overseas, once they return domestically, are they not armed personnel anymore?

No, give them weapons, and they immediately become armed factions, the trained kind.

Hence, this law was quickly "amended" to add many thresholds.

The Akiner Clan did not establish a security company, not because they had no need, but because they had another method, which was the mining escort teams.

Their mining escort teams, in a certain sense, are their armed forces.

However, this type of armed force, compared to the armed forces of a security company, still has great differences.

Mining escort teams, from their name one understands, they are only active in the mining areas, at most accompanying transport vehicles.

Beyond these areas, they become illegal.

But a security company is different; they are legal everywhere!

By the time Mr. Pato realized it, it was already too late, but he didn’t feel too bad, as the basic industry of the Akiner Clan was heavily reliant on natural resource development.

It wasn’t until last week that he suddenly realized that apart from their network, wealth, and various other things, armed forces were also a crucial reason that deterred people from targeting the Duncan Clan; he felt a bit regretful.

However, as a seasoned capitalist and the patriarch of a distinguished family, he would not show his regret, as that would only diminish his authority.

He regretted his erroneous judgment, and Lynch merely nodded, not commenting further.

One cannot expect me to express an opinion just because you gifted me a fine horse. Who doesn’t have this bit of money?

Moreover, Mr. Pato made quite a profit last time, and he didn’t care about this amount of money.

Seeing Lynch not expressing an opinion, Mr. Pato moved a step further, "Our previous collaboration was very pleasant. Regarding the Duncan Clan this time, I think we can cooperate effectively."

"The Duncan Clan has around 3.7 percent of their industry in the Federation concentrated in the resource sector; they hold two of the Federation’s five large oil fields, providing them ample cash flow."

"If you wish to take action, I can try to at least temporarily curb them in this aspect."

Lynch had been gathering a lot of data regarding the Duncan Clan recently, and indeed, oil is a very crucial factor.

How to put it, as long as crude oil is extracted, there are plenty of companies willing to pay to buy it.

Provided the oil fields have no issues, attempting to suppress the Duncan Clan solely through capital means is basically unrealistic.

They are exceedingly wealthy.

And precisely because of this point, they now become the target of everyone’s schemes!

Lynch pondered, "How do you intend to proceed?"