Chapter 62: Short-Term Investment

Chapter 62: Short-Term Investment

Someone else intends to sell?

Klein considered the sentence and did not immediately ask further. He waited until a maid came in, set down the silver three-tiered tray for afternoon tea, and left. Only then did he smile and speak.

“Madam, why do you not acquire them yourself?

“Even a blind person can tell that, in the future, Loen will pay more and more attention to controlling environmental pollution. Therefore, Coim Company, whose main businesses are smokeless coal and high-quality charcoal, will certainly have excellent prospects. A value of 500,000 pounds—or even 1,000,000 pounds—will no longer be mere fantasy. Of course, the premise is that the company’s management can keep up with its expansion.

“Under such circumstances, acquiring Coim shares is absolutely profitable. If I were you, even if it meant shouldering heavy debt, I would buy them myself.”

Mary picked up a cucumber sandwich from the bottom layer of the silver tray with two fingers, took a small bite, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

With that buffer, she finally organized her words.

“Ever since the law on air pollution control passed, Coim Company has developed rapidly, and the faces among the shareholders began to change. You know how it is. Those who chase money always possess a keen sense for such matters, and behind them often hide important figures.

“If I had not been a member of the Air Pollution Investigation Committee and had not, through that, come to know many nobles and senior government employees, I believe I would also have had to bear the pressure, sell my shares at a relatively good price, obtain decent returns, and leave the stage.

“But even so, a large quantity of shares is rapidly being concentrated. I am about to lose my status as the largest shareholder and my ability to steer the company.

“This is an asset my father left to me. I do not want to watch it become someone else’s toy. I hope it can gradually develop into the largest supplier of smokeless coal and high-quality charcoal in Backlund—even in the entire Loen Kingdom. Heh, I have not been idle. I pledged shares, sold properties and estates, invested the vast majority of my liquid funds, and quietly absorbed fifteen percent of the shares. I also asked trustworthy friends around me to help, and together they acquired another ten percent. Adding the twenty percent I originally owned, the portion I can control has reached forty-five percent.

“This time, a minor shareholder suddenly intends to sell the three percent stake he holds, and for the moment, my friends and I lack enough cash to buy it.”

So this is commercial struggle… Klein, who was accustomed to clashes between Beyonders, was encountering such a thing for the first time. It felt both novel and unfamiliar.

He also reached for the bottom layer of the three-tiered silver tray and picked up a sandwich filled with high-quality ham. As he ate, he thought for over ten seconds before asking, “The shares you later absorbed should also be eligible as collateral, correct?”

“There is not enough time. The other side has already offered a price and can trade at any time,” Mary said after finishing the food in her hand.

Klein leaned back against the sofa as if relaxed.

“Why come to me?”

Hearing him ask this, Mary slightly relaxed.

“First, you certainly brought a good deal of cash to Backlund. You do not need to raise money through other methods. Second, you have only recently arrived here and do not yet have deep ties with that side—or with any side. That is an advantage none of the others I could ask possess. Frankly speaking, it also means I do not fear you violating the agreement once it is signed. Even if you were to lean toward the other side, they would still have to consider whether it would be worthwhile to oppose the law for your sake. Third, although we have met only once before, I believe you are a man of experience, wisdom, and gentlemanly bearing.”

With praise like this, I’m almost embarrassed… But this also shows that Dawn Dantes’s acting has achieved its effect. At least everyone knows he is a middle-aged gentleman with experience and ability, holding a large amount of cash and uncertain where to invest it…

Mm. My original 16,943 pounds, plus 5,000 from Miss Magician—no, 6,000 pounds—and the 48 pounds provided by Mr. X, gives me a total of 22,991 pounds in cash and 5 gold coins. Even after deducting the 5,987 pounds I owe Miss Messenger, I can be considered a true rich man… Many people with assets of 100,000 pounds do not have such liquid funds…

Klein could not help calculating his own wealth. Smiling, he asked, “Madam, what do you hope I will do?”

Mary took a sip of black tea and smoothly said, “Acquire that three percent stake. Before that, I will sign two agreements with you. First, an agreement requiring me to buy the shares in your hands three months from now, calculated according to the highest share price reached during that period. I will bear the corresponding taxes. Second, a concerted-action agreement…

“In addition, I will make you a member of Coim Company’s board of directors, allowing you to enjoy the corresponding benefits, supervise the company’s development, and help you better enter upper society.”

It sounds like a guaranteed profit. It is equivalent to me providing a loan, and Madam Mary repays me with a certain interest and social resources… Compared with a debt agreement, at least I would be holding shares in a high-quality company, which is more secure. After all, she and I are basically strangers… Of course, the premise is that Coim Company itself has no problem. Mm, that must also be why she wants me to become a director…

Klein analyzed the conditions Madam Mary had offered and gradually became interested.

In his view, Dawn Dantes’s identity would inevitably need to make investments. Otherwise, suspicion would easily arise. What kind of investment he chose was therefore rather important. Especially considering that Dawn Dantes might at any moment have to abandon everything he currently possessed and leave Backlund, whether due to success or failure.

At that point, money might have a chance to be taken away. Shares would be impossible… This kind of investment, where funds can be recovered quickly, fits my needs exactly… I might even earn quite a bit…

Klein thought for a while, then smiled gently.

“Helping a lady resolve her difficulties is something I ought to do.”

Madam Mary immediately relaxed. She was just about to speak when she heard Dawn Dantes continue in his magnetic voice.

“However, I am quite cautious regarding any investment.

“I will hire a solicitor and an accounting team to investigate Coim Company’s condition and reach a conclusion as soon as possible. If there are no problems, then I look forward to a pleasant cooperation.”

Apart from that, I will also perform divination…

Klein silently added this in his heart.

“That is only proper.” Madam Mary smiled. “I will bear the expenses in that regard.”

Klein did not refuse. He nodded.

“What is the current value of that three percent stake?”

“The normal valuation is 9,600 pounds, but that shareholder believes that, given Coim Company’s development prospects, it should not be lower than 12,000 pounds,” Madam Mary provided the specific figure.

Whew… Klein, with a calm and leisurely expression, smiled.

“That is acceptable.”

Dawn Dantes really is wealthy…

Madam Mary’s thoughts shifted, and she took the initiative.

“Dawn, may I invite you to visit Coim Company tomorrow?”

“That is precisely my wish.” Klein smiled in reply.

At the same time, he could not help thinking of one matter: Starling Sammer’s husband, his former landlord, should still be working as a manager at Coim Company.

Another acquaintance—but not Dawn Dantes’s…

For some inexplicable reason, Klein felt a little wistful.

…

Eight o’clock at night. On the roads leading into the East Borough, pedestrians were still numerous, and obvious fatigue marked their faces.

This state would continue until nearly ten o’clock.

Emlyn White had changed into a set of gray-blue work clothes and put on a flat cap. He hid in an alley in the Backlund Bridge area, observing the poor people coming and going.

Although he had no experience in disguise, he at least had eyes and a brain. After watching for a while, he discovered several problems with himself.

Most importantly, compared with the poor, whose clothes were filthy and often torn in many places, the work clothes he had bought from a shop that afternoon were too new and too clean. They would very easily draw attention.

Emlyn thought about it, then returned to the dark alley and extended his fingers. Following the phenomena he had observed earlier, he tore open all the places in the clothes that were most likely to wear out.

Then he looked around, and the muscles of his face gradually twisted.

With an expression full of disgust and resistance, Emlyn went to the wall. Closing his eyes, he rubbed those filthy things onto his clothes and trousers.

The smell of coal ash… The smell of rotting sludge… Urine, urine smell…

Emlyn instinctively raised a hand to cover his mouth, nearly vomiting.

Only now did he understand that possessing an extraordinary sense of smell was not necessarily a good thing.

After several minutes of suffering, Emlyn finally completed his disguise. Even his handsome face was stained with no small amount of coal ash.

In such attire, he slightly hunched his back, followed the crowd, and quickly entered the East Borough without attracting anyone’s attention.

As he walked, Emlyn discovered a problem.

He did not know the way!

He had no idea where Graystone Street and Whitewhale Street were located within the East Borough, and most of the street signs here had been deliberately damaged.

Assassination really is troublesome…

Emlyn grumbled and began asking people for directions.

After nearly an hour of effort, he finally arrived at Graystone Street. The road was narrow, and the buildings on either side stood very close together. Even during the day, the place would be dim and gloomy. At night, it had a sinister darkness that made one feel dread. To a Sanguine, however, this environment was quite good. The only problem was that it was too dirty and chaotic.

After spraying an odor-eliminating potion, Emlyn entered the apartment at No. 6, went up to the third floor, pinched his nose, approached the public washroom, and stood outside the room belonging to the Primordial Moon believer Argos.

Emlyn listened sideways for a moment, then doubtfully released the fingers pinching his nose.

At that instant, the stench coming from the public washroom nearly made him faint. He barely managed to focus his attention on the room.

His sense of smell told him that no one was inside, and that there was no corpse either.

“He moved? Or he went out and has not yet returned?” Emlyn silently muttered, somewhat stunned.

He had not expected this hunt to begin so poorly.

Forcing himself to gather his thoughts, Emlyn left the apartment and hurried to 19 Whitewhale Street.

This time, he was delighted to discover that someone was inside the room. Galis Kevin was at home.

Just then, Emlyn smelled another person’s scent. It was extremely similar to the scent in Argos’s room on Graystone Street.

Two people… There are two people inside the room! Argos isn’t home because he came to see Galis Kevin… Two people…

Emlyn’s expression abruptly went a little blank.

If it were one-on-one, he would not be worried at all. But if it were one against two, even holding Leymano’s Travels, he felt somewhat afraid. After all, they were two artificial vampires, and neither was weak!