Ellie moved quickly. Early the next morning, she came before Fang Zheng.
"Have you made up your mind?"
Looking at his student before him, Fang Zheng asked with a smile. Ellie hesitated for a moment.
"I... I don't know. What you said yesterday, Mr. Fang Zheng, surprised me, and honestly, your views are completely different from what most people think. But I also feel that what you said makes sense. Given Crossbell's current situation, perhaps special measures are necessary to solve its problems. So I want to see what you intend to do, Mr. Fang Zheng."
"Of course."
Fang Zheng rose to his feet.
"Come with me. We're going somewhere anyway."
Thus, Ellie followed Fang Zheng to the Crossbell News Agency in the Harbor District.
"Here...?"
"We acquired shares in Crossbell News a long time ago. You could say this place has long since become part of Starlight Technology."
"Huh? Th-there's such a thing? Why didn't we know?"
"Because Crossbell's stock market lacks oversight. Don't look at me like that—I didn't exploit a loophole. Or rather, 'lack of oversight' is precisely the defining feature of Crossbell's stock market. Do you understand what I mean?"
"...A feature?"
"That's right. Financially speaking, this place is practically a lawless zone. It isn't governed by the Empire's or the Republic's financial laws, but has its own financial system. However, that system lacks regulatory measures—or rather, they simply aren't qualified to regulate it. Naturally, that makes things very convenient for many criminals."
"...I still don't quite understand..."
"Simply put: money laundering."
Fang Zheng raised one finger.
"Through Crossbell's financial system, people from the Republic and Empire can conveniently wash their dirty money clean. A large part of Crossbell's prosperity was built on that. So strictly speaking, Crossbell's financial market doesn't 'lack oversight'; it deliberately 'reduces