Darkstone Code

Mr. Jeruno changed his clothes and came to the conference hall, where some clan members had already gathered.

This is one of the advantages of large families living together; when certain unexpected events occur, calling people together is very simple.

At least these people don’t need to receive a phone call, tidy themselves up, leave the house, get the car from the garage, drive a distance, enter the manor layer by layer, and then come to the conference hall.

None of this is necessary, people just need to receive a notification, then wash up, change clothes, and go downstairs.

In the Federation’s family culture, it seems to always avoid the essence of "family." From the moment children leave their parents and establish their own new families, they develop a sense of estrangement from their past families, namely their parents and other relatives.

Clearly, they are family, yet because of leaving home to live independently, they transform from being a family to being relatives.

The Federation’s culture emphasizes this point too, but the way Federation people emphasize it isn’t so straightforward.

Rather than getting rid of the "old family," they emphasize learning to be "independent."

It sounds like... it’s not the same thing, but the core of this ideology is that when a person’s mind matures, they should become independent from the family, live alone, and face the world by themselves!

This is the Federation’s third major spirit after freedom and fairness—the spirit of independence!

Some say this spirit actually originates from the Pioneer era, but this view isn’t mainstream. People still believe that living independently is the proper way.

Some sociologists might give examples of animals, like predators in nature, whose offspring are driven out of the territory by their parents during the "teen" period, with the purpose of helping the next generation grow.

The public believed it, and they followed suit, but the broken families and estranged feelings remained impossible to mend.

Those elderly would rather sit alone in rocking chairs by the fireplace, holding photos from a dozen years or even longer ago, wiping them with sleeves, reminiscing about the times when the whole family was together.

They wouldn’t easily call their children to tell them it’s time to get together.

The children are the same, but of course, they have more things to face, such as the highly competitive society or stressful studies, plus emotional lives and rich social interactions, making it unlikely for them to remember those elders.

But... is this all correct?

Is this "spirit of independence" necessarily correct?

Actually, it’s not, at least not entirely.

Looking at the upper classes of the Federation, and even extending further to Gafura and Peng Jieao, these "traditional" countries.

Behind every upper-class individual is a huge family, and most people in this big family live together.

They will build large estates or even castles to provide living space for family members. It’s not uncommon to have parents and adult children living together, even four or five generations living together is quite normal.

If there is something you don’t know is right or wrong, just look at what people in the upper levels of society do, and you’ll understand.

They won’t be wrong, at least not in the big picture.

Actually, what truly restricts people from living together is not the "spirit of independence" or the "cost of growth," but the damn poverty!

Not every family can have an estate or even a castle that can accommodate a family of hundreds together.

Forget about estates and castles, not everyone can own a large house!

The lower class of society can’t have family members living together, so they have to find some theoretical basis and support for the family’s fragmentation.

Clearly, "spirit of independence" and "cost of growth" are the explanations most in line with the Federation’s values.

People say this in movies, books, and so... most people believe it.

Even if they don’t believe it, they have no choice because they can’t afford the cost of everyone living together!

If society is always progressing, in the end, people should return to living together, not divided!

As he walked into the conference hall, the noisy sounds ceased, and a strong smell of smoke filled the air. Mr. Jeruno felt slightly lightheaded, and his heart was uncomfortable.

After finding his place, he didn’t sit down right away; instead, he stood for a while, holding the edge of the table with both hands, before sitting down.

The room completely quieted during the moment he stood; the people thought Mr. Jeruno was dissatisfied with the noise.

Actually, the butler standing outside the door knew that Mr. Jeruno might not be feeling well physically.

He had gotten up too early, and he hadn’t had enough rest last night, nor recently. It was normal for his body to feel uncomfortable.

But considering Mr. Jeruno’s health, the butler still contacted the Doctor, asking them to be ready at any time.

In the room, Mr. Jeruno did not show any sign of defeat. He remained solemn as before, "How much available funds do we have on the account?"

The first issue pointed directly at the most crucial thing—money!

Before today, Mr. Jeruno had never worried about money. He didn’t even have much concept of it.

Every year, through both legal and illegal businesses, he could plunder countless Wealth, so in his view, money was nothing more than a string of numbers on a sheet of paper.

But now, he was starting to feel nervous.

His younger brother, who was in charge of overseeing the clan’s various businesses and accounts, spoke next. He managed the big account as well as small accounts, though the latter was overseen by specific enterprises or persons, while he only managed the big account.

Perhaps he had anticipated Mr. Jeruno would ask this question before coming, so he quickly provided an accurate number.

"If we don’t consider the odd cents, we have nearly four billion of freely disposable funds..."

Freely disposable means that even if this four billion is moved, it won’t affect the daily operation of all the family’s businesses, and won’t put pressure on the capital chain!

Seeing Mr. Jeruno’s expression remain unchanged, he added, "If you give us some time, we can add about five billion in funds, but it won’t last too long."

Mr. Jeruno’s dissatisfaction eventually overflowed.

He frowned, his face showing a sense of discontent, "Is that all?"

Look, listen to his tone, being able to gather nine billion in cash combined, yet he was dissatisfied, saying just this little!

But he has the right to say this because he is Jeruno, Jeruno Duncan, the Emperor of the Empire in the shadow of the Federation!

Mr. Jeruno’s brother awkwardly smiled, "Our industries are facing some impacts, in addition to banks freezing some of our accounts; most of our safely active accounts are overseas now."

"And those people’s appetites are growing..."

Mr. Jeruno knew who those people were and knew how big their appetites were!

Previously, things that could be settled for three or five ten thousand dollars. Those people have now ramped up their asking price to two or three hundred thousand, while some key roles would demand half a million or even a million in bribes!

Everyone says the Duncan Clan is mad, but these people are truly mad!

For money, they’re willing to do anything, even disclose key information!

As long as the money is right!

This has led to increasingly high expenses now, with rare funds exhibiting what seems like a shortage of shortages.

And more troublesome, the oil field had issues.

Mr. Jeruno pondered for a while, "How many oil contracts have we yet to fulfill?"

The family member responsible for the oil, Mr. Jeruno’s cousin, looked serious as well, "About a little over one billion."

The impact of the oil field’s destruction is not merely their inability to extract oil now; what’s even more critical is that if they can’t fulfill the previously signed sales contracts, others can file a lawsuit in court accusing them of breach of contract!

Once the court seizes such an opportunity, they can completely use "breach of contract" as the core to conduct a thorough investigation of the Duncan Clan, then freeze most of their accounts and businesses!

They also have to compensate those people with astronomical damages!

This is a very tricky problem; it’s not just the inability to produce oil!

Initially, Mr. Jeruno didn’t realize anything, but soon he found the figure wasn’t quite right.

"Why is there such large an order, or is it several orders?" A billion-plus backlog, this figure seemed inappropriate.

Even with the world shrouded under the clouds of war, such large "commodity orders" are unlikely.

If they are "policy orders," that would be logical.

Oil is a strategic resource, so it’s sure to be stockpiled in large quantities by the Federation Government at lowered prices before war erupts, this is normal.

But at this time, oil is not the best commodity for private trade!

Due to its special nature, it can be requisitioned by the local government at any moment and place, and even if someone wants to do some speculative businesses, they wouldn’t take so much oil at once.

At this time, such amounts of oil are not Wealth, but the beacon of ruin inviting disaster!

His cousin mentioned a few companies’ names, and Mr. Jeruno’s frown deepened. These companies he hadn’t even heard of, and neither had his cousin.

If nothing unexpected happens, he has a vague suspicion that these companies and the group of people responsible for damaging oil field equipment likely belong to the same power.

"Check who holds these companies behind the scenes, spend some money, we need to figure out where the first attack is coming from!"

Despite the Duncan Clan facing the most dangerous situation ever, there are still people willing to provide services for them for the sake of money.

Some are even competing to serve them!

Some see nothing but justice, bathing in the glory of righteousness.

And some, their eyes filled with desire, have long been trapped in the mire of desire, unable to leave!