landbeastnovel Chapter 103 Unexpected Intervention
Chapter 103 Unexpected Intervention
Chapter 103 Unexpected Intervention
Klein hadn't expected that even though the butler, Barker, had already sensed something was amiss, he would still increase the investment, and the reasons he gave were all ones that Klein couldn't refute.
What Klein didn't know was that Butler Buck's wariness of the investment wasn't due to the investment itself, but rather because, as the representative of the most powerful noble family in Ahowa County, he knew a lot of information that others didn't.
For example, Backlund has decided to remove Mayor Dennis and Councilor Menason from office.
Although it's unclear why these two individuals have enraged Backlund so much, in Buck's eyes, their joint appearance today to endorse this investment, and even their unauthorized misappropriation of municipal funds, is like a drowning person desperately grasping at a last straw before being swept away by a raging river.
Clearly, they have staked everything on this project, hoping to use its enormous profits to save their political or personal lives.
But in Buck's eyes, this behavior was gambling. As everyone knows, gamblers who bet all their chips often cannot turn the tables and will end up with nothing.
The appearance of such a gambler in an investment project suddenly jolted Buck's butler awake from the temptation of excessive returns. Once he came to his senses, his intelligence once again prevailed, and he quickly made a judgment: regardless of whether the project made a profit or a loss, he would increase his investment.
The Buck family has served Earl Akhova for generations, and upholding Earl Akhova's interests and the honor of the Horn family is an obsession ingrained in their very being.
Although he had watched Evan grow up, it meant nothing compared to the honor of the Horn family.
To put it bluntly, the next Earl of Akhova is his older brother Robert, and Evan is just a collateral descendant who is still within the "five degrees of kinship". Evan is only slightly special because of Robert. Butler Buck is loyal to Earl Akhova first and foremost.
Without hesitation, Mr. Buck stepped forward and put all 20,000 pounds that Evan had given him into the account.
When Lanius loudly announced that Butler Barker, representing the Earl of Ahova's household, had acquired 8% ownership of the iron mine for 20,000 gold pounds (the more people subscribed, the higher the price would rise), the atmosphere in the theater reached its climax.
Finally, Lanius announced that, in order to give back to the city of Tingen, at the request of the city government, he would once again allow ordinary citizens to purchase 5% of his shares, benefiting the entire city of Tingen. This act of kindness was widely praised.
Klein and Leonard watched the frenzied theater, feeling a chill run down their spines. They had previously thought that expanding the influence of the Lannus hoax would only drag down the upper echelons of Tingen, but they never expected things to turn out this way.
With numerous media outlets present, tomorrow's front page headlines will undoubtedly be about this unprecedented subscription in Tingen. I've heard that there's still 10% of the shares available for sale, and the middle class who aren't qualified to enter the theater will go crazy bidding for them. The entire city of Tingen will be in a frenzy.
The thought that many middle-class families would be ruined by this scam made Klein and Leonard feel dazed, and they even had a strong urge to stop the plan. But seeing the enthusiastic investors on site, they knew it was too late to back out.
After attending the dinner arranged by Laneus following the investment presentation, Klein quickly left and returned home.
Klein had been thinking that this investment would be the hottest topic in Tingen the next day, and he was about to warn Benson not to trust it too easily when he suddenly remembered that he had only found a job two weeks ago and his family had only recently moved.
Nominally, they have a slightly higher income than the middle class, but in reality, their family has no savings at all. So he gave a wry smile and didn't say anything more.
After chatting with Benson and Melissa for a while, Klein couldn't hide the fatigue on his face. Soon, urged by his brother and sister, he went upstairs to his bedroom.
After hanging up his coat, Klein still looked worried. He hadn't expected things to develop this way, and the intervention of Mayor Dennis and Councilor Maynard had only added fuel to the fire, completely escalating the scam.
Klein didn't believe they had just happened to know about the investment project and had only stepped forward after careful consideration. He was convinced that Lanius must have learned about their political predicament through some unknown channel and had taken advantage of the situation to persuade them to support him.
This made Evan even more wary of Lanluus, whose potential harm was no less than that of any extraordinary being below the level of a demigod.
With this in mind, Klein decided to communicate with Evan again to see if the current situation had broken the mastermind's script and to see if they could close the net ahead of time and prevent the scam from escalating further.
Without the slightest hesitation, Klein once again made a praying gesture, recounted everything that had happened that day, and expressed his hope that Lanius could be arrested ahead of time to minimize the losses suffered by the people of Tingen.
Klein then took four steps backward into the gray fog, projecting his prayer image into the red star that symbolized Evan.
Backlund, Queens, a villa. Evan walked out of the bathroom of his old room and wiped his freshly washed hands with a penny, still feeling both amused and exasperated.
He was just sitting on the toilet, relieving himself, when suddenly a gray mist, unique to the "Fool," appeared before his eyes.
Then came the image of Klein, which startled him greatly.
The news that Klein told him was not unexpected, but Evan was destined not to agree to it.
Evan had just read the "Lord of Mysteries" in his mind and confirmed that Megaius was pregnant with the child of the true creator. Lanius's mission in the script had been completed, and Ince Zangwill and 008 would soon arrange his departure. The reason for not silencing him was twofold: firstly, it was difficult to do so, as they were afraid that someone with ulterior motives would discover Megaius; and secondly, Lanius had already obtained a bit of the true creator's divinity.
Evan initially decided to participate in Laneus's scam partly because he wanted to make it bigger. The more people involved, the more difficult it would be for Ince Zangwell to manage, and he would eventually lose control of the situation.
If it is discovered that Megaus did not conceive the true child of the Creator, Evan will instruct Klein to kill Lanluus, thus forcing Ince Zangwill to start over, which buys Klein at least 3 months.
Moreover, it's possible that in later episodes, the Goddess of Night and Adam will accelerate the opening of the Death Treasure, possibly transferring Inszangwill and 008 to another location, thus resolving the Tingen crisis.
After all, Ince Zangwell and 008 are only in a relatively free state because the Goddess of Night has not yet obtained what she wants, and her deal with Adam is still in a tug-of-war.
But now that it has been confirmed that Megos is pregnant with the child of the true creator, the main storyline remains unchanged.
So Evan should put aside his concern for Tingen and focus on his own business first.
From the very beginning, Evan had his eye on the ill-gotten gains that Laneus might abscond with, so he instructed the steward to invest, already anticipating that the entire Tingen would now be drawn into this scam.
Building bridges and paving roads goes unnoticed, while murder and arson bring wealth and honor.
However, by sheer coincidence, Mayor Dennis and Councilor Maynard fueled the fire, causing the scam to snowball. If the scam is eventually exposed, the effort to recover the stolen funds will be unprecedented, and Evan may not be able to cover it up.
Fortunately, Evan had made preparations in advance, and those preparations came from his brother Robert.
Prior to this, when he telegraphed Buck's butler to inform him that he could invest in Lanius's project, Evan had already confronted his brother, stating frankly that he had his eye on the 'fraudster's' ill-gotten gains.
Contrary to Evan's previous predictions, Robert was surprisingly easy to persuade. After hearing all the details, he simply sent a few telegrams and said that this was a good opportunity and that he supported Evan in doing so.
After Robert's explanation, Evan learned that because of the previous defeat in the Southern Continent War, various factions within the Kingdom of Rune were blaming their opponents and trying to absolve themselves of responsibility.
Originally, this was just talk, but last month the kingdom's oversight department received a letter of accusation, alleging that the military and related shipyards embezzled military funds during the construction of warships, resulting in the cost of the warships being more than double the budget. In particular, the cost of the new ironclad warships that are about to be launched is more than three times the actual cost.
Because the amount of embezzlement was so large and the number of people involved was so large, it was obvious at a glance that it was true.
However, at that time, the Ironclad was about to be launched, and the impact of the defeat in the Southern Continent war had not yet subsided. If a thorough investigation had been conducted then, the entire Kingdom of Rune would have been thrown into turmoil.
Therefore, this accusation was ultimately suppressed by King George III on the joint advice of the Duke of Negan, the Earl of Hall, and the Prime Minister.
The whistleblower letter was repeatedly examined by MI9, who even used a Level 1 sealed artifact, but they still couldn't find out who wrote it. This left a shadow in the hearts of everyone who knew the inside story, wondering when the matter would be exposed again, and that the person behind it was definitely not simple.
What Evan said, however, gave Robert a great idea, a way to clear up the debt.
After communicating with the Duke of Negan and the Earl of Hall, Robert leaked the news to all the anxious people involved through other channels, telling them that the opportunity to settle accounts had arrived.
So while Lanius was still carrying out small-scale scams in Tingen, a scam surrounding him was also unfolding at the same time.
First, all the mineral exploration documents and iron ore ownership certificates that Lanius forged were registered as genuine, and the mining sites he fabricated were at least three times larger to look more authentic.
Of course, this all happened in West Lavis County, which is hundreds of kilometers away from Akhova County, so Lanruus was unaware of it.
Meanwhile, Robert's men, who were sent to Tingen disguised as procurement personnel from the Ministry of Defense who happened to be vacationing in Tingen, "accidentally" learned that Lanluus had discovered a huge iron ore mine. Then, under Lanluus's bribery, they actively facilitated the investment of Pritz shipyard in his iron ore mine and initialed the relevant contract.
In other words, all the contracts that Lanius presented at the investment presentation were valid contracts stamped by the Ministry of Defense and the shipyard. It's just that the bureaucratic process was slow, so the money had not yet been deposited into his account.
The intrusion of the two powerful figures in Tingen was unexpected by everyone. Evan guessed that they had heard about the project from somewhere and thought it was a project that the military valued, so they actively supported it, hoping to get in touch with the military and revive it.