A Moment in History

Everything was ready, and just as they were about to set off, Maxim suddenly started causing trouble.

"Hudson, our contract doesn't include these things. Don't even think about using me as a laborer!"

The great Giant Dragon race can never accept such an insult.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed. The Giant Dragon's dignity was at stake, and things suddenly became complicated.

Using Giant Dragon as a pack animal—this was probably the first time Dragon Knight had done so. After racking their brains, no one remembered anyone using Giant Dragon to haul goods.

"Count Hudson, what should we do now?"

Morrison's perplexed questions and answers.

The key to this operation is Maxim. If the Giant Dragon refuses to cooperate and other means of transportation are used, it will inevitably create many hidden dangers.

"I'll try to communicate with him first. You are aware of the habits of Giant Dragon."

Hudson said with a frustrated look on his face.

However, I think you need to carefully consider this delivery mission. After all, your daily expenses are considerable, and you're too lazy to earn money through hard work; being in debt all the time isn't a solution!

Besides, it's a rare opportunity to leave Dragon Island. If you return hundreds of years later with only so little savings, you'd be too embarrassed to even greet a familiar dragon.

The most important public destruction work had not yet begun, and Bishop Montesol, who was personally in charge, kept a close eye on the Alpha people's actions.

Ultimately, I'm not a finance professional, so my understanding of bond trading isn't deep, and my mindset is still stuck on buying low and selling high in ordinary commodity trading.

"Count Hudson, I'm entrusting this matter to you!"

For those who hold large amounts of war bonds, the pre-arranged redemption method is far too risky.

Maxim, however, did not have this burden. The nation that the Dragon Knight were loyal to did not mean that the Giant Dragon had to be loyal as well.

As orders were issued one after another, the Church personnel responsible for carrying out the mission were also terrified.

In any case, the Giant Dragon's reputation for being greedy is already deeply ingrained in people's minds, so everyone can accept it if it takes advantage of the situation to make a profit.

Sending someone to oversee the burning of bonds by the Alpha Kingdom was the limit of what Pope Pius VII could conceive.

Maxim was furious just thinking about it. He had toiled and sown for half a year, only to have Hudson steal all the fruits of his labor.

This isn't just any dragon; if it were, it wouldn't be a dragon at all. It only went into heat once and produced a whole bunch of offspring. These offspring involved hundreds of species, and it never once showed any sign of being picky about its food.

This is an official business trip, and as a high-ranking nobleman of the kingdom, Hudson must exercise his aristocratic awareness and not ask for money.

"Maxim said angrily."

"Maxim, how about this? After you complete the mission, I'll give you a chest of gold coins as a reward."

Bishop Montesol rebuked him sternly.

The ten boxes of gold coins I requested probably represent less than one percent of the total. With such low shipping costs, you've already gotten a great deal.

Instead of haggling, Hudson turned his gaze to the crowd behind him, signaling them to hurry up and move forward.

Blake echoed this sentiment.

The market sentiment has now stabilized, and apart from ourselves, almost no one is asking them for early repayment anymore.

Pope Pius VII said coldly.

Bundles of bonds were brought in, and boxes of gold coins were brought out. The exchange was over, but the matter was not yet finished.

"Your Majesty, Caesar IV is calling on the nobles of the whole country to raise money. It is said that he has already raised tens of millions of gold coins. The more than ten million bonds we have in our hands are probably not enough to bankrupt their finances."

The system, with each level pushing down the next, initially seemed like a lucrative opportunity. However, things took an unexpected turn; the exchange points set up by Alpha people did not collapse immediately.

"Impossible! Hudson, you miser! If you dare touch my gold coins, I'll turn on you!"

"Your Majesty, Bishop Solon is right. To deal with such stubborn elements as the Alpha Kingdom, we must strike them down decisively."

Boxes of bonds were sent out, and the bond price increase that had been triggered by the Church's buying spree gradually stabilized.

Deep down, Hudson was already cursing. From now on, he would avoid such situations at all costs. This kind of double act was just too difficult to perform.

On paper, the Church has already acquired over ten million war bonds and redeemed over six million. Theoretically, the Alpha Kingdom's cash flow is in grave danger.

As he watched his subordinates submit their bills one after another, Pope Pius VII initially thought his men were capable, but gradually he realized something was amiss.

Based on the current market conditions, acquiring one million war bonds and then redeeming them with the Alpha Kingdom would result in a loss of around 150,000.

Based on intelligence gathered from various locations, Alpha people will typically provide cash payments about twenty days after the application is submitted.

"Pass down the order: stop the acquisitions. First, redeem all the bonds we have, then we'll acquire the second batch!"

After all, these bonds have magical markings, retaining the traces of time. The specific issuance time and quantity are all verifiable, eliminating the possibility of subsequent issuance.

From this moment forward, I will personally take all the war bonds I collect to be redeemed. If the quantity doesn't match the accounts, you won't even have a chance to enter the Penal Battalion.

If the acquisitions continue and Alpha Kingdom realizes it can't hold on, it could lead to a disaster if it starts a stalling strategy and drags them down with it.

"How did you do this? You sent over a bond worth one million gold coins, and the Alpha people redeemed it in less than seven days."

If Alpha Kingdom's cash flow is depleted before it can make payments, and it prematurely declares a debt default, these bonds will become stuck in its own hands.

When it comes to gold coins, it's always the Giant Dragon who cheat people; I've never heard of Giant Dragon being cheated.

He didn't know whether the outside world had confidence in the Alpha Kingdom, but he had absolutely no confidence in the administration of the Church.

"Since you all say so, then let's intensify our efforts! Tell the people below not to go too far, or if we don't produce results soon, hmph!"

Ulise went to the Cenobites camp to select one thousand people and assigned them to various places to supervise their implementation.

"Don't worry, Mr. Maxim. I wouldn't do such a thing without your permission."

However, these high-yield bonds have nothing to do with the Church. Their goal is to deplete the Alpha Kingdom's cash flow, and buying the cheapest ones is the best strategy.

It's said that a large portion of this cash was borrowed from various chambers of commerce. Confidence in the Alpha Kingdom from the outside world is far stronger than we anticipated!

The difficult bargaining phase is always the most agonizing. I practically wore myself out before I finally convinced Maxim.

If he hadn't been brutally beaten down by society and hadn't been so eager to increase his strength, he wouldn't have compromised!

It's euphemistically called: daily cultivation expenses.

Dragons are not easy to raise. There is an old saying on the Aslant Continent: "The actions of Giant Dragon are paid for by knights."

The matter was made so blatant that even those present who wanted to speak up for their subordinates didn't know what to say.

Given the relationship between the Church and the Alpha Kingdom, it's impossible for them to send someone to verify. In practice, the exact number of war bonds purchased is simply a matter of a single statement.

He had long wanted to reform the bureaucracy of the Church. However, the corruption at all levels was too severe, and the people united to resist reform, leaving him with no way to start.

After hearing Maxim's brilliant explanation, Hudson wanted to laugh, but was too embarrassed to laugh out loud.

After the exchange is completed, people should be sent to keep an eye on the people of the Alpha Kingdom to see if they are truly burning the items openly.

However, the discount is no longer 88% of the face value, but 93%, 95%, 98%... Some high-yield bonds are even higher than the face value.

It was clear that these words were not only meant for Maxim, but also for all the experts present.

Don't try to explain to me; I don't have time to listen to your explanations. Anyway, the mission isn't complete unless Alpha people refuses to pay out.

Hudson tried his best to deceive them.

It's fine if you want to overcharge, but you should at least give us a heads-up beforehand!

Deep down, Bishop Montesol harbored a deep hatred for those merchant guilds. If it weren't for their help, where would the Alpha Kingdom have any cash reserves here?

In some areas, payments can be made as early as seven or eight days after the application is submitted. The financial power demonstrated by the Alpha Kingdom is far more terrifying than we imagined.

"That's not enough. You need at least ten boxes. Don't try to fool me. I heard your conversation. This paper is very valuable."

Even a wrecked ship has three pounds of nails. Given the Alpha Kingdom's desperate efforts to raise funds, no matter how financially strapped they are, they shouldn't be wiped out by a few million gold coins.

"Dear Mr. Maxim, how can you be doing hard labor?"

Bishop Solon stepped forward to offer his advice.

Morrison said sincerely.

Hudson carelessly twisted the facts. If the difference in strength between the two sides weren't so vast, he would have already smashed this foolish dragon.

The criterion is very simple: just observe Alpha Kingdom's reaction. How could they remain so calm if faced with a massive run on their bonds?

Seeing that his subordinates were all demanding that the efforts be intensified, Pope Pius VII instantly realized that he had been too idealistic, assuming that the entire Church was honest and incorruptible.

But theory is just theory. In Soren's view, even if you cut the data on paper in half, there's still a lot of exaggeration involved.

The extent of the exchange of benefits behind this remained unknown to Bishop Montesol. He knew, however, that his get-rich-quick dreams were shattered, and that things were now extremely complicated; he had to diligently carry out his mission.

These are all gold coins!

If you feel that carrying gold coins on the road is an insult, then I'll keep your little stash of gold safe for you.

If everyone hadn't taken this operation so seriously, they probably would have discovered the inconsistency between Maxim's words and actions much earlier.

This has resulted in some places having abundant cash reserves and being able to exchange them quickly, while others have insufficient cash reserves and take longer to exchange them.

Why bring up Giant Dragon dignity at this point? It's like when Hudson came over earlier, carrying a large box.

Even if money were sent immediately, it would be quickly spent.

Of course, there is a time lag in this withdrawal process, and immediate remittance is not yet possible. Furthermore, the amount of funds remitted to different locations must be clearly defined, preventing free allocation.

It's a losing proposition anyway. If you buy 600,000 or 700,000 worth of bonds to redeem, you can report it as 1 million; if you buy 300,000 or 500,000 worth of bonds to redeem, you can also report it as 1 million.

Those who came this time were all Cenobites; don't expect any favors to be shown. If you don't complete the mission, you'll be sent to the Penal Battalion!

And those other guys, if you can fly, then fly on your own! I'm not some random dragon!

Fortunately, the accompanying mages reacted quickly and released a protective shield in time, thus averting a tragedy.

If you're going to lie, at least make it believable. With so much cash reserves, do you think this is the Royal Capital of the Alpha Kingdom?

Do you think that because the heavens are high His Majesty the Pope far away, you don't know what you're doing? You just stuff money into your pocket and say you've completed your mission!

I'm telling you, the headquarters inspection team is coming down soon. Give back everything you've swallowed, immediately go to the market and buy up war bonds, then redeem them as quickly as possible.

This time it's different. The investment of tens of millions of gold coins failed to bankrupt the Alpha Kingdom, exposing the corruption of the Church to the light of day.

Although the bonds are being continuously exchanged, the Church inevitably accumulates more and more bonds due to the one-month grace period.

If there were so many war bonds, a sudden influx of them would paralyze the Alpha Kingdom's finances, even if they didn't collapse immediately.

This large-scale operation has allowed the various departments involved to rake in considerable profits. Regardless of the Pope's emphasis on strengthening oversight, the actual operational authority remains in the hands of those carrying it out.

Perhaps because everyone was familiar with the habits of Giant Dragon and knew very well how foolish it was to talk about money with Giant Dragon, they all chose to ignore Hudson's hints.

He was not disappointed; the neatly packed bonds were taken to Lutetia Square for public destruction.

Deep down, he had already cursed Maxim's entire family; they had really screwed over the Dragon Knight.

When you're following Dragon Knight, who's ever seen Giant Dragon pay for their services?

The portion of the loss that is minimized is everyone's net profit. The money is divided among everyone, and all the relationships are taken care of.

Unfortunately, with the intervention of several major chambers of commerce, the Alpha Kingdom can withdraw funds here simply by depositing them anywhere on the continent.

In the dead of night, a dragon burst forth from the sky. Those who boarded its back for the first time were thrown about, leaving them dizzy and disoriented. The boxes on the dragon's back, in particular, flew everywhere.

If we give them time to raise the money, all our previous efforts will be in vain. Besides, bond prices are still slowly rising, and the longer we wait, the higher our acquisition costs will be!

To ensure there were no problems, Bishop Montesol personally inspected everything before lighting it. All of it had just been brought in, and it still bore his personal magical markings.

Looking at the Bear fire, Lord Monteson smiled with joy; this time there would be no problem.

The assistant standing nearby had already taken out the Flowing Shadow Stone to record this historic moment.

There's nothing tonight, no need to wait.