Someone Else's Child

Lin Feng's words caused the maid to tremble slightly. Her expression turned unnatural, and she clenched her fists nervously before asking, "Is that a threat?"

Lin Feng shook his head. "No, it's advice."

"If you don't take my advice and then blame me when you lose money, I'll send you to meet the ETO."

The maid nodded seriously. "We will relay your warning exactly as you said it."

Inside a skyscraper on Wall Street, in front of a massive floor-to-ceiling window, hung a display screen.

An elderly man, leaning on a cane, stood listening to a woman speak from the screen, his brow furrowed.

If Lin Feng were there, he would have recognized the maid working at his mansion on the screen. The person she was video-calling was Hughes William, a financial magnate famous on Wall Street and a frequent feature in financial journals.

"What does that mean?" Old William asked.

"It means exactly what it says," the maid replied calmly.

Unlike her timid demeanor in front of Lin Feng, the maid was very aloof with the man she was video-calling.

Old William thought for a moment and cautiously asked again, "Did Mr. Taylor say anything else?"

"No, what you do is your choice," the maid said.

Old William nodded silently after hearing the maid's words, his tightly knit brows relaxing as if he had understood something.

"Thank you for connecting us, Ms. Edith."

"Old William, I can only help you this once. Mr. Taylor seems very displeased with me doing this."

Upon hearing this, Old William bowed slightly to the maid, Edith, and thanked her sincerely.

"Understood, Ms. Edith. I'll have ten times the agreed-upon payment transferred to you for this favor."

After the call ended, the young man who had been standing silently behind Old William stepped forward and asked.

"Father, Taylor refused to help us. What do we do next?"

"Refused to help?"

Old William was taken aback at first, then his face darkened, and he let out a cold snort. "When will your brain ever get out from among the women?"

"If you continue to be this useless, how can I possibly entrust all my assets to you in the future?"

"Can't you learn from Feng Taylor? He's already become a Wallfacer, one of America's four powers. Do you know how much influence he has in the world? Yet you're here every day, hoping for the little bit of assets I've prepared for you. Do you think my assets will last long with your spending habits?"

Old William berated his son, wishing he could turn him into something better. As a father, he deeply envied Frederick Taylor for having such an outstanding son who had reached the pinnacle of power at such a young age.

Unlike his son, who was far behind others in everything except eating, drinking, sleeping, and chasing women.

Thinking of this, Old William couldn't help but sigh. With such a useless son, he wouldn't be able to protect his wealth after he died. He would easily be tricked into selling even his underwear.

Young William, who had just been scolded, didn't dare to retort to his father. He hung his head and quickly apologized, trying to change the subject.

"You're right, Father. Haven't I already realized my mistakes... Did you mean that Feng Taylor agreed to help us? We haven't even negotiated yet?"

Young William was still thinking about gathering Wall Street's financial capital, uniting global financial capital, and then negotiating with the Wallfacer Feng Taylor to divide the virtual assets that had expanded after the new world order.

Thump!

The cane struck the tiled floor heavily, causing cracks to appear. Old William's body trembled slightly with anger.

Young William realized he had said the wrong thing. He had only seen his father in such a state a few times in his entire life.

Young William regretted it and instinctively swallowed. But the words had already been spoken, like spilled water, they couldn't be taken back.

Old William, while hitting his son with the cane, cursed him.

"Negotiate what? What right do we have to negotiate with him? If we anger him, everything we own will be stripped away. Don't you realize the seriousness of this? You pig-brain!"

"Who do you think you are? Who do you think he is? He's a Wallfacer! You're just the son of an ordinary financier! What do you have to negotiate with him!"

Due to his old age and frailty, Old William stopped hitting after a while, panting heavily, and resentfully put down his cane.

He glared at his son with disappointment and said, "Feng Taylor has already told us the future trend and how we should act. This is him helping us; he's done all he can. If you're still not satisfied, you'll end up like the ETO. Don't you understand what he meant?"

Rubbing the spot where he was hit, which still hurt, Young William replied timidly.

"I... I was wrong, Father."

"You are very wrong!"

Old William sighed and turned around, walking to the floor-to-ceiling window and falling into silence.

Young William, who had just endured a severe scolding, didn't dare to disturb his father and remained silent beside him.

Looking at the towering skyscrapers outside the window, Old William spoke softly.

"Knight, didn't you used to be obsessed with virtual games? You'll develop a game company, and I'll fully fund you to complete it."

"This is an opportunity we've finally managed to get from the Wallfacer. We must seize it."

After hearing his father's words, Young William nodded heavily.

"Yes, Father, I will definitely hold onto this hard-earned opportunity tightly."

A week after the protest, Lin Feng held a press conference.

As usual, he sat arrogantly at the press conference podium, angrily lashing out at the reporters who questioned him and the plan's continuation.

"What kind of bullshit is that! What do you mean the real economy isn't developing? If humanity's main focus shifts to the virtual world, will people start eating electricity? Will the catering and food delivery industries cease to exist? What about logistics?"

"What do you mean the real economy is sluggish? How many jobs has the Macro-electron Energy Storage Project created? How much is paid out in salaries annually? How much economic activity is generated when these people resign and move into other industries? What about their consumption?"

"Don't even get me started on education! I care more about this than any of you. These people aren't just your children; they are the next generation of humanity! How will you know if it's good or bad if you don't even try? With the wealth of information available in the virtual network today, perhaps it could even be more effective for children's education? Don't you want your descendants to receive a better education?"

This statement silenced the reporters who had intended to question Lin Feng further about education.

Lin Feng slammed his fist on the table, continuing his indignant rant.

"And for those unhappy about real estate value depreciation, are you idiots? Why insist on tying up your assets in real estate? Are you aliens who will die if you don't speculate on property? Or aliens who will die if you don't collect rent? If you want financial preservation, buy gold! Gold absolutely never falls!"

"What era are we even in, that you're still thinking about land grabs and consolidation? All you old capitalists should be eliminated by the tide of the times!"

"Humanity will not stop its progress for you!"