Recaps

The Lava General and the Tech Battle Priests tested a captured Voidspawn to learn how it imitated people and attacked. They easily contained it after discovering that its imitation of the Warrior Troops could not fight, but the Lava General warned that other monsters might pose a greater threat.

• The Lava General examined the Voidspawn and discussed its ability to blend in among humans with the Tech Battle Priests.
• A Tech Battle Priest offered to test the Voidspawn, and the Lava General allowed him to act while promising to keep it in the Sky Arena.
• The Tech Battle Priest attacked the Voidspawn, which imitated the attack's effects but failed to fire.
• The Tech Battle Priests captured the Voidspawn after it imitated the Warrior Troops, whose lifeless bodies left it unable to attack.
• The Lava General concluded that his forces naturally countered these foreign races, then warned everyone not to let their guard down.

Roger and the Magic Goddess sent an Image-Capturing Monster through the portal to scout the world beyond it. Its delayed images revealed a smoke-covered fortress filled with turning gears, and its successful transmissions showed that mana existed on the other side.

• Roger and the Magic Goddess watched the Battle Priests in the Sky Arena and discussed whether to send Magic Life or Mechanical Life through the portal first.
• Roger chose to send an Image-Capturing Monster, gave it instructions to return within ten minutes, and sent it through the portal.
• The Image-Capturing Monster transmitted blurry images of a world filled with massive gears, chimneys, and smoke.
• Roger suspected the other world used steam power for industrialization, while the Magic Goddess wondered whether it had technology like his.
• After ten minutes, the Image-Capturing Monster had not gone far, but its images confirmed that mana was present throughout the area it had explored.

Roger and the Magic Goddess investigated the world beyond by capturing and reading a Voidspawn’s memories. They learned that the world had a god called the Pain Mother and a harsh, strangely underdeveloped industrial society, but the information left major questions unanswered.

• Roger and the Magic Goddess sent the Image-Capturing Monster toward the fortress gates and watched humans escort Voidspawn inside.
• Roger decided to capture a Voidspawn, and the Magic Goddess read its memories without the Tech Battle Priests or Lava General noticing.
• The Magic Goddess learned that Voidspawn were ordinary humans who mutated, and that the world beyond had a god called the Pain Mother.
• The Magic Goddess reported that the Pain Mother was supposedly the world’s only god, though the Voidspawn’s incomplete memories raised doubts.
• Roger and the Magic Goddess learned that the Voidspawn had been a factory worker in a town of two hundred thousand, in an industrial world that burned Graystone and lacked long-distance communication.
• Roger suspected that the miserable way of life in the world beyond was exactly what the Pain Mother wanted.

Roger and the Magic Goddess investigated the world beyond the fortress and decided to strengthen their artificial scouts before exploring further. In the mortal world, the dragons recruited Viscount Rost to help launch the Stock Exchange and Bond Market, leaving him wary of a planned stock-market wipeout.

• Roger and the Magic Goddess concluded that they needed more information about the other world’s powers and weapons before deciding how to handle it.
• The Image-Capturing Monster was stopped by an invisible barrier around the fortress, so Roger judged that crossing it would require a Legendary-level scout.
• The Magic Goddess brought out her strongest temporary Magic Life for testing, and she and Roger later returned to the Divine Kingdom to strengthen their artificial lives.
• The dragons presented their plans for Great Dragon Bank 2.0, the Stock Exchange, and the Bond Exchange to Viscount Rost.
• Nidhogg told Viscount Rost that Great Dragon Express and other major companies would go public, then asked him to use the Ultra-High-Speed Hover Train to wipe out some stock-market money before launching the Bond Market.
• Viscount Rost agreed to cooperate but insisted that the train operation could not damage his reputation, and he asked when the Stock Exchange would open so he could consolidate his companies.

Viscount Rost planned to consolidate Rost Territory’s industries into a powerful public company and used the World Economic News Agency to help prepare people for the upcoming Stock Exchange. The exchange was set to open seven days later, while Rost arranged to return to his territory and complete the consolidation in time.

• Viscount Rost reasoned that merging Rost Territory’s industries and dividing shares among many nobles would preserve his control while creating a durable company.
• Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg learned that the World Economic News Agency belonged to Rost and asked it to promote the Stock Exchange.
• Rost agreed to launch a program explaining the stock market and to cover daily trading once the exchange opened.
• Nidhogg set the opening for seven days later and said the Technology God would provide the exchange on the Magic Net.
• Rost promised to promote the opening and submit the consolidated industry data before trading began, then requested a Dragon to escort and protect him for seven days.

Viscount Rost consolidated his territory’s businesses into the Rost Territory Group Company and began transferring the nobles’ holdings into group shares. As Newsbird Megan’s campaign spread news of the Dragon Stock Exchange, Wool Ryan urged his father to prepare the Wool Guild to go public.

• Viscount Rost established the Rost Territory Group Company and converted the original companies’ shareholders’ stakes into group shares.
• Berlion Rogers agreed to the transfer and said he might trade shares after the stock exchange opened.
• Viscount Rost used the Blue Dragon’s threat to persuade resistant nobles to accept the restructuring.
• Newsbird Megan announced the Dragon Stock Exchange, and the World Economic News Agency promoted its benefits and the prospect of Magic Net trading.
• Wool Ryan told his father that the Wool Guild should submit its information to the Dragon Stock Exchange and prepare to go public.

Wool Ryan persuaded the Shepherd Pope to prepare the Wool Guild for a public share offering, arguing that they should follow the Technology God’s plans and retain control through majority voting rights. Meanwhile, merchants across the continent began responding to the stock exchange, as Dragonkind rapidly built a new stone building in Golden City for its upcoming venture.

• Wool Ryan urged the Shepherd Pope to list part of the Wool Guild on the stock exchange and use the proceeds to develop the guild.
• Wool Ryan proposed selling no more than forty-nine of the guild’s one hundred shares so the Shepherd Church would keep voting control.
• The Shepherd Pope agreed to prepare the Wool Guild’s reforms and contact Dragonkind.
• Sir Ayr of the Graycastle Empire and merchants across the continent began exploring public offerings.
• Dragonkind’s workers rapidly constructed a new building beside Great Dragon Bank and Great Dragon Express in Golden City.
• The lord of Golden City asked whether Dragonkind needed new employees for its upcoming industry.

Golden City’s Stock Exchange opened to a huge crowd, and buyers quickly snapped up the listed companies’ shares. The Hunting Church missed the initial offerings but planned to buy from early investors, and people began reselling shares at higher prices.

• Ten minutes before opening, Great Dragon Bank’s selected traders arrived at the Stock Exchange after completing their training.
• At nine o’clock, the Stock Exchange opened, and thousands of visitors entered to view company information and trade through the traders.
• Buyers rushed to subscribe to shares in companies including Golden Merchants' Guild, Rost Territory Group Company, and Great Dragon Express, quickly exhausting the available offerings.
• The Hunting Pope and a financially skilled archbishop failed to buy shares during the initial rush, but the archbishop proposed purchasing them from early sellers.
• Investors began reselling Golden Merchants' Guild shares for 1.25 gold coins each, and buyers immediately started snapping them up.

The Magic Net Stock Exchange opened, triggering a frenzy of share trading and rapidly rising prices, while a new Bond Market was announced. In Rost Territory, Viscount Rost showed the shareholders their company’s soaring valuation and urged them not to manipulate the market early.

• Traders began selling shares at 1.25 gold coins each, and buyers quickly drove prices higher as the Hunting God Pope placed a large purchase order for Golden Merchants' Guild stock.
• The Stock Exchange turned into a buyers' market, with purchase listings pushing prices up and early sellers rushing back to buy shares.
• At ten o'clock, the Magic Net announced the official launch of the Stock Exchange and Bond Market, explaining how companies and investors could use them.
• As users flocked to the Stock Exchange, reports spread that some traders had multiplied their money several times within an hour.
• Viscount Rost told more than 1,200 shareholders that Rost Territory Group Company’s share price had reached 2.2 gold coins, valuing the company at 8.8 million gold coins, and asked them not to drive up the price yet.

Viscount Rost urged nobles to consider buying shares in Southlands Development Company, explaining its vast assets and heavy debt as reasons its stock was undervalued. As Magic Net stock trading ended amid a buying frenzy, Newsbird Megan prepared Scholar Anthony Houston to host the agency’s first financial analysis show.

• Viscount Rost told the nobles that Southlands Development Company controlled nearly all of the Southlands and combined major development projects, including the Ultra-High-Speed Hover Train.
• Viscount Rost explained that the company had borrowed more than fifty million gold coins from Great Dragon Bank and claimed its market value was far below its worth.
• Nobles weighed the risks of investing, while Viscount Rost kept his larger plan to sell company shares at bargain prices to himself.
• Trading on the Magic Net Stock Exchange closed at three in the afternoon, after millions of people decided stock trading was easy money and shares soared.
• Newsbird Megan recruited Scholar Anthony Houston to host the World Economic News Agency’s first financial analysis show, and Anthony said he was ready to follow the script.

Church leaders discussed how to profit from the Stock Market as its popularity spread across the continent and trading entered its second day. Dragon- and Technology God Church-related stocks soared, while Foster Mining Company lagged despite Viscount Rost’s confidence in its potential.

• The Pope of Horticulture and the shepherd of the Drama God Church discussed using the public’s remaining judgment and emotions to earn money through the Stock Market.
• As the Stock Exchange opened, crowds packed the Dragon Stock Exchange and Great Dragon Banks, while investors celebrated rising share prices.
• Great Dragon Express and other companies related to Viscount Rost surged, while Foster Mining Company remained behind because its early losses and uncertain prospects discouraged buyers.
• King's Hand Bellion questioned Viscount Rost about recommending Foster Mining Company, and Viscount Rost said its vast iron deposits and planned magitech production gave it exceptional potential.
• Roger showed the Magic Goddess the market’s rapid gains and said future listings, including the Shepherd Church’s Wool Guild, would help the market grow.

Church leaders discussed rising stock valuations and planned to profit from them, while the Graycastle Emperor focused on building the empire’s Magitech Industry and asked Ayr how the state could tax stock-market activity. The chapter ended with the Emperor setting aside the tax problem and asking about the progress of listing Ayr’s factory.

• Church leaders praised the Golden Merchants' Guild’s rising valuation and discussed pushing it higher before selling their shares.
• Some church leaders favored investing in Rost Territory Group Company because of its support for the Technology God Church and its Magitech Devices.
• The Graycastle Emperor learned that Ayr’s one million gold coins had grown to four and a half million through stock trading, but told him to prioritize establishing Graycastle’s Magitech Industry.
• The Graycastle Emperor asked Ayr how the empire could collect taxes from investors and nobles making money on the stock market.
• Ayr considered the difficulty of tracking trades and taxing nobles, churches, or companies, and the Emperor then asked about getting Ayr’s factory listed.

Odd Coin Ayr and the Graycastle Emperor discussed listing assets to fund an ultra-high-speed hover train, while the stock market’s soaring prices drew widespread attention. Viscount Rost learned that investors planned to manipulate share prices and asked his aide to confirm their scheme.

• Odd Coin Ayr told the Graycastle Emperor he had consolidated his factories into a company but kept his territory separate, and the Emperor asked him to test the stock market with the company.
• The Graycastle Emperor pointed out Dawn Southlands Development Company’s projected losses and explained his plan to fund rail transit by listing royal and state assets.
• Three days later, share prices had climbed sharply, with Great Dragon Express reaching thirty-two gold coins per share and Rost Territory Group Company approaching a market value of eighty million gold coins.
• Viscount Rost’s aide reported that investors planned to dump Rost shares, inflate Wool Guild shares, cash out, and then buy Rost shares back cheaply.

The Wool Guild and other companies went public as investors rushed to buy their shares. Wool Ryan and the Wool Pope drove up the Wool Guild’s stock price to attract buyers before selling at a profit, while Viscount Rost and Nidhogg watched their scheme and prepared to launch the Bond Market after the anticipated crash.

• The Wool Guild, Gray Fortress Factory Joint Company, and other companies went public, prompting investors to sell established stocks and buy the new shares.
• Viscount Rost lifted restrictions on noble shareholders of Rost Territory Group Company, who began buying its shares freely.
• Wool Ryan persuaded the Wool Pope to keep buying Wool Guild shares and raise their price so they could later sell at a profit.
• Nidhogg told Viscount Rost that the Wool Pope and Wool Ryan had bought nine hundred thousand Wool Guild shares to push the price higher.
• Viscount Rost agreed with Nidhogg to let the scheme continue, monitor the buyers, and prepare the Bond Market for the stock crash.

The Magic Net opened its Bond Market, but investors dismissed bonds as less profitable than stocks. Dawn Southlands Development Company issued bonds that went largely unnoticed, leaving the stock craze unchecked.

• Viscount Rost stopped trying to communicate with Wool Ryan and watched him demonstrate livestream selling on the Magic Net.
• Magic Net sites promoted bonds as another way to invest, and readers learned how companies, churches, and nations could borrow publicly and trade bonds before maturity.
• Magic Net users mocked bonds for offering less than the stock market, while the dragons expected losses from failing companies to teach people about risk.
• Dawn Southlands Development Company announced one-, three-, and five-year bonds paying annual interest of 5.5%, 6.2%, and 8%, respectively.
• Investors and churches dismissed the bonds, with some churches considering borrowing money to invest in stocks instead.

Wool Ryan and the Shepherd Pope sold all their Wool Guild shares during the market frenzy, then planned to drive the price down so they could buy back cheaply. After news of their sell-off sparked outrage and debate across the Magic Net, Viscount Rost ordered Megan to intensify the pressure on the guild.

• Wool Ryan persuaded the Shepherd Pope to sell their 1.24 million Wool Guild shares while the price was high.
• The Shepherd Pope and Wool Ryan sold their shares for between 8.6 and 9.3 gold coins each, earning more than six million gold coins.
• Wool Ryan planned to publicize the Shepherd Pope’s belief that the guild’s shares were overpriced, push the price down, and buy shares back at a lower price.
• The World Economic News Agency reported that the Shepherd Pope had sold all his shares, prompting heated reactions across the Magic Net.
• Viscount Rost told Megan to expose damaging news to make the Wool Guild’s stock fall further.

Newsbird Megan’s campaign sent Wool Guild stock and much of the wider market crashing, while the Graycastle popes struggled over whether to sell or buy more shares. As panicked investors turned toward bonds, Viscount Rost watched Dawn Southlands Development Company’s bonds begin to sell and anticipated Credit Currency replacing precious metals.

• At Viscount Rost’s command, Newsbird Megan launched a campaign that drove Wool Guild stock down to six gold coins and continued to fuel its decline.
• The Graycastle popes discovered that their Wool Guild holdings had lost millions of gold coins and argued over whether to sell, hold, or buy more.
• The wider market plunged, and investors across the Magic Net lamented their losses and questioned the risks of stock trading.
• The World Economic News Agency guided investors toward bonds, and people began comparing their risks and returns with stocks and bank deposits.
• Dawn Southlands Development Company’s bonds began selling, and Viscount Rost said the financial groundwork for industrial development was nearly complete.

The Dragon Bond Market opened in Golden City, where a clerk explained how bond interest reflected risk and presented the Graycastle Empire’s railway borrowing plans. After hearing that the empire intended to raise over two hundred million gold coins for a nationwide Rail Transit network, a merchant abandoned his investment plans and headed to Graycastle to seek business opportunities.

• A crowd visited the newly opened Dragon Bond Market, where customers learned about bonds and issuers discussed borrowing.
• A small merchant questioned the low returns and minimum purchase requirements, and a clerk explained bond risks, collateral, and interest rates.
• The clerk showed the merchant Graycastle Imperial Treasury’s approved Rail Transit Bonds and explained why the railway project had been judged low-risk.
• The merchant left the market, packed his belongings, and set off for the Graycastle Empire to pursue opportunities created by its railway plans.

Viscount Rost explained how the Stock Exchange, Bond Market, and Great Dragon Bank were drawing people’s wealth into a financial system, and advised Nidhogg to limit speculative loans. He then revealed that New-Style Housing would create another major source of financing for Magitech Industry.

• Nidhogg reported that paper currency use was dwindling and many people were borrowing to speculate, and Rost told him to raise collateral requirements while letting the financial markets develop gradually.
• Rost explained that most stock traders were destined to lose money, exciting Nidhogg with the prospect of profiting from the market’s destruction.
• Nidhogg asked whether the stock market would hinder Magitech Industrialization, and Rost said its benefits would outweigh its drawbacks.
• Rost told Nidhogg that New-Style Housing near industrial zones would create a reservoir of financing and help support large-scale currency issuance.
• Rost explained that homebuyers’ long-term debt contracts would funnel funds into loans for constructing industrial zones and developing Magitech Industry.

Viscount Rost persuaded the Destruction Black Dragon Nidhogg to accept the risks of expanding the money supply to fund Magitech Industrialization, arguing that rapid growth in production would stabilize prices and improve lives. Nidhogg then asked why Rost had been visiting the Tulip Kingdom, a god's dream that outsiders could not enter, and mentioned that the Lava General had gone there too.

• Viscount Rost explained that dragons could profit from controlled investments while factories and agricultural reforms expanded goods and markets.
• Viscount Rost urged Nidhogg not to fear bad debts, arguing that fast industrialization could make present-day debts manageable and raise living standards.
• Nidhogg asked about Rost's frequent trips to the Tulip Kingdom and noted that the Lava General had also gone there.

Viscount Rost explained the Tulip Kingdom’s preparations for a coming conflict with another world, and Nidhogg agreed that the Dragons would join the war. In the Divine Kingdom, Roger and the Magic Goddess decided to prepare further before exploring beyond the gate and discussed setting a concrete readiness goal.

• Viscount Rost told Nidhogg that the gods had ordered the Tulip Kingdom to guard the gate and prepare to counterattack, explaining why Rost Territory was mass-producing weapons.
• Nidhogg suggested involving the Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs, but Viscount Rost said the other races should focus on Magitech Industrialization for now.
• Nidhogg volunteered the Dragons for the future war and asked Viscount Rost to make customized magitech equipment for them.
• Roger and the Magic Goddess confirmed that their new Mechanical Life and Magic Life had Legendary-level combat strength.
• Roger hesitated to send them through the fortress before learning more about the other world and the Pain Mother, so the Magic Goddess suggested further preparation.
• Roger proposed setting a goal for when they would launch an exploration mission and said the other gods should also be informed.

Roger presented the Council of Gods with a five-year plan to strengthen mortals and expand faith through Magitech Industrialization, infrastructure, and agricultural reform. The gods agreed to support the projects and took responsibility for work their churches could carry out.

• The Council of Gods agreed to cooperate with Roger to strengthen mortals, increase faith, and prepare to resist the Pain Mother.
• Roger presented plans for 120 major projects, 800 medium and large projects, and 3,000 small projects, including roads, railways, power networks, and heavy machinery.
• Roger proposed expanding agriculture, reclaiming the Northlands swamp, developing new seeds, and gradually freeing slaves and serfs to increase food production and faith.
• The Agriculture Goddess endorsed the plan, offered her church's help, and proposed opening free schools across the regions.
• The gods volunteered to build roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals through their churches.

Churches across the mortal world sought bonds from the Dragon Bond Market to fund projects such as roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals. Nidhogg suspected the unusual borrowing spree was connected to the Technology God Church or the Technology God, but he did not know why the churches were cooperating.

• Churches across the mortal world began hiring workers and applying to the Dragon Bond Market for funds.
• A senior priest of the Church of the Light God applied to borrow twenty million gold coins to establish free classrooms in Light Church Chapels.
• The bond market's person in charge agreed to assess the Church of the Light God's application under normal procedures and contacted Nidhogg about the churches' unusual projects.
• Nidhogg told the person in charge not to refuse the applications and suspected the projects were connected to the Technology God Church or the Technology God.

After Nidhogg approved the Great Dragon Bond Market, churches issued bonds to fund public projects, prompting widespread surprise as they began building free schools and other facilities. The Graycastle Emperor learned that the churches had acted on simultaneous divine orders, then contacted Viscount Rost to investigate what might be behind the changes.

• Nidhogg approved the Great Dragon Bond Market, and churches quickly issued bonds to fund projects such as schools, hospitals, and roads.
• People debated why the churches were borrowing money for projects that appeared to benefit everyone, while rumors linked Viscount Rost to talks with the Graycastle Emperor about transportation.
• The Church of Light and other major churches completed their bond subscriptions and began building free schools, with priests and Order of Punishment Knights overseeing the work.
• People confirmed that the churches were teaching children for free and rewarding strong students, while using some scripture in lessons.
• Shadow told the Graycastle Emperor that priests across the churches had received nearly simultaneous orders from their gods to undertake public projects and borrow from the Great Dragon Bond Market if needed.
• The Graycastle Emperor considered what could have prompted the gods to act together and contacted Viscount Rost through the Magic Net.

Viscount Rost explained to the Gray Fortress Emperor how churches might benefit from investing in schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges, then described how roads and Magitech Vehicles complemented Ultra-High-Speed Hover Trains. The emperor reconsidered his transportation plans and wondered whether his empire needed a broader network and more capacity.

• Viscount Rost suggested that churches were building schools, hospitals, roads, and bridges to gain followers and prepare for the Magitech Industrial Age.
• The Gray Fortress Emperor asked whether the Technology God Church had received a Divine Oracle, and Viscount Rost said it had not.
• Viscount Rost promoted Rost Territory's Magitech Vehicles and explained the Southlands Development Company's plans for factories, roads, and grain transport.
• The Gray Fortress Emperor questioned why Magitech Vehicle routes were needed alongside Ultra-High-Speed Hover Trains, and Viscount Rost explained that roads and vehicles could connect places the trains did not reach.
• The Gray Fortress Emperor realized that new industries and increased travel required more transportation capacity, and considered expanding train service or combining transportation methods.