Going All In

The bridge of the Black Dragon Mountain X4396.

The command center was on the upper deck of the ship. Huge curved windows took up the entire wall, and now and then, clouds of dark energy drifted past like ribbons against the inky backdrop of the Dark Universe.

Tang Ping leaned back in the floating chair beside the command console, absentmindedly tracing the holographic star map with his fingertips. Five planets in the BX10081 Star System blinked as pale blue dots on the map, with data like "Star Pattern Steel Mother Ore Reserves" and "Mining Difficulty Rating" displayed beside them.

He stared out at the Dark Universe for a while, his brow creasing slightly.

In the Dark Universe, the planets looked bizarre. Some resembled shattered glass spheres, their surfaces covered in irregular crystal protrusions; others looked like swirling masses of black mist, capable of swallowing even starlight.

Moreover, the ratio between the spatial dimensions of the Dark Universe and the real world was 100.81 million to one. The void that had seemed so vast and empty in space was often dotted with bizarre planets here.

Still, it was all rather dull.

"Better think about what matters." Tang Ping turned away from the window and tapped the command console, bringing up the investment panel on his Personal Terminal.

In this universe, where strength reigned supreme, he had no intention of wasting time on tedious financial management. Once he advanced to Star Rank, the salary and resources from the Luo Family would double. And once he grew stronger, plenty of factions would be eager to offer him benefits.

What he wanted was a "hands-off income" model: he would focus on cultivation and leave the star system's management and investment growth to others.

With that decided, he swiped across the screen and opened the Interstellar Mission Platform built into the ship.

A holographic projection unfolded above the command console. The pale blue interface displayed the logo of "59 Same Star System," a well-known brokerage platform in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire that specialized in connecting clients with services such as interstellar resource management and outsourced mining.

Tang Ping tapped "Post a Mission." As soon as he entered "BX10081 Star System Mining Management" as the title, a string of fee notices popped up: "Registering a management company costs 100 Black Dragon Coins. Posting a mission costs 20 Black Dragon Coins. Real-time communication is charged by the minute (0.1 Black Dragon Coins/minute)."

"They really take a cut at every turn." Tang Ping grumbled, though he understood the platform's value.

It screened the qualifications of contractors and also offered "employer protection." After all, across the stars, many Alien Race factions would turn on their employers for the sake of resources. There had even been cases of the Bone-Eroding Race seizing mines and devouring their employers.

He gritted his teeth and paid the required basic fees. He also added a further 1,000 Black Dragon Coins—equivalent to 1 million Silver Blue Coins—as a "screening fee." In the mission requirements, he specified: "Contractor must have at least 10 years of interstellar mining experience and a reputation rating of A or higher. Must provide Star Core Rank safety shields to protect miners."

After submitting the mission, Tang Ping leaned back in his chair and stretched. His gaze fell on the remaining 2 billion Silver Blue Coins.

He opened the currency converter and sighed at the figures on the screen. Two billion Silver Blue Coins came to only 2 million Black Dragon Coins in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. That was not enough to buy even one particle cannon for a Universe Level starship. It was nowhere near enough to make major investments in fields like interstellar energy or rare mineral deposits.

"I was thinking about buying up houses on Earth, too." Tang Ping rubbed his temples and opened Earth's interstellar records.

His original plan had been to buy up property while Earth was still off the Virtual Universe Company's radar, then rent it out at a high price once Luo Feng Ancestor drove up Earth's value.

But the data in the records proved him sorely wrong. The Luo Family was accelerating its development of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the family's core members had all moved to extraterrestrial bases. Property prices on Earth had been falling for nearly a century.

Prices might rise again once Luo Feng advanced to Domain Lord and became Inspector Envoy of the Ganwu Universe, but that would take at least another hundred years.

"A hundred years? By then, I'll probably be Star Rank. Will I really be short on rent money?" Tang Ping laughed and closed Earth's property page, then opened the Luo Family's internal investment platform.

The line graphs on the screen clearly showed the returns from numerous investment products. Though there were minor fluctuations, the overall trend was steadily upward. The returns over the past century had reached 62%, far outpacing similar products on the open market.

He opened the details page and saw that the Luo Family Financial Department had spread its investment funds across several fields: stocks in its own subsidiaries, interstellar real estate, and "legitimate industries" like dark energy extraction. The risk was kept very low.

Just as Tang Ping was about to buy into the investment product, the "Related Stocks" list at the bottom of the screen caught his eye. The names "Galaxy Tea" and "Galaxy Liquor" stood out, each marked "Endorsed by Luo Feng."

He opened the stock charts and saw that both stocks had risen almost continuously over the past decade, but had suddenly stalled in recent years and even dipped slightly.

"It's because Luo Feng Ancestor has been making slow progress in Chaos City." Tang Ping realized at once.

Based on his estimate of the timeline, he remembered that Luo Feng Ancestor had recently hit a bottleneck in his cultivation in Chaos City. That was why many major investors had been reluctant to keep holding the stocks, and even many people within the Luo Family had chosen to sell.

"But according to the original story, Luo Feng should be carrying out a 'Life-or-Death Training Mission' around now. His rate of progress is about to accelerate." Tang Ping's eyes lit up.

He knew Luo Feng's potential all too well. That genius from Earth had never been held back by a bottleneck for long.

Besides, Luo Feng was one of humanity's Six Great Powers, and the geniuses in the Virtual Universe Company's Primordial Secret Realm drank this tea. They said it could improve one's comprehension. Would you really refuse to give your child some? The geniuses in the Primordial Secret Realm drank this liquor, too. Wouldn't you serve it at celebrations and banquets?

So there was no need to worry about sales for Galaxy Tea and Galaxy Liquor.

"Even if their stock prices don't rise in the short term, sales at both companies will only keep growing. The dividends are bound to be good." The more Tang Ping thought about it, the more promising it seemed. He immediately logged into the Black Dragon Mountain Empire's household registration system using his family account.

As a son-in-law recognized by the Luo Family and a Planetary Rank clan member, the issue of his lack of citizenship was soon resolved, and he obtained citizenship in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire. He then logged into the Black Dragon Mountain Empire Bank, opened a securities account, and used the Luo Family's special channels to exchange 2 billion Silver Blue Coins for 2 million Black Dragon Coins. The whole process took less than ten minutes.

"That's it, then. I'm going all in!" Tang Ping looked at the 2 million Black Dragon Coins in his securities account and didn't hesitate for a moment. He split the funds in half and used them to buy shares in Galaxy Tea and Galaxy Liquor.

Both stocks were currently priced at 100 Black Dragon Coins per share, so he bought exactly 10,000 shares of each. The figures on the holdings screen refreshed instantly.

He closed the interface and leaned back in the floating chair, watching the indicator lights blink beside the command console. The corners of his mouth lifted.

Done!

All in!

Don't talk to me about technical analysis, trends, or the market. Going all in is an art!