Chapter 319: Chapter 276: Cloud Black Market: Financial Street
The light before Teresa dimmed suddenly, only to blaze forth in the next instant.
She found herself in a luxuriously decorated room with a thick, red patterned cashmere carpet that could swallow one’s feet whole.
In the center of the room stood a set of furnishings that seemed to be made entirely of gold and inlaid with countless precious gems.
On the table lay a piece of sheepskin that appeared aged, a quill with a sapphire tip, a bottle of ink, and a silver lighter.
Even the air seemed to be filled with the scent of money.
CLICK!
As she focused her gaze, the lighter opened automatically, emitting a blue flame.
Six stunningly beautiful girls in black and white maid outfits walked out in a line, arrayed on either side of the desk, curtsying to her.
Seated in the golden chair was a young man in formal attire with a black bow tie, his features somewhat indistinct. He lifted his hand invitingly, gesturing for her to take a seat at the desk.
"Is this a Pawnbroker?!"
Coming from The Great Cathedral of the Holy Mother’s Mercy, Teresa was well-informed.
Having personally experienced his miraculous abilities, she immediately deduced that he was probably a High Sequence Pawnbroker.
Her body jolted abruptly.
High Sequence? With the flourishing of commerce, has someone in this profession broken through to the Fifth Order? This must be the only Legendary Grade Pawnbroker of our time, right?
She promptly performed a formal Church Salutation and, following Byron’s request, sat gracefully to face him at the desk.
She hesitated for a moment before carefully asking, "You... Who might you be, sir, and how should I address you? What place is this? And may I inquire as to how I can be of service to you?"
She had mistaken the Faustian Pact for Byron’s own ability, thinking he was a Fifth-order Legend, and naturally switched to using formal language.
Those of High Sequence already possessed the qualifications to share in the spoils with kings; no one dared to underestimate them.
This was precisely the effect Byron had intended, so naturally, he would not take the initiative to unravel this beautiful misunderstanding.
His hands crossed on the desk, he smiled warmly at her and said, "You may call me... Mr. Wednesday. As for what you can do for me? Indeed, I’m in need of somebody to help me with an experiment. Do not be nervous. All you need to do is to trade fairly with me, or with other members of Financial Street in the future, that’s all."
SNAP!
He snapped his fingers casually.
The room instantly became transparent, revealing an endlessly long street outside the door, flanked by towering Gothic buildings.
Neat rows of doors lined the building facades, seemingly each leading to a room just like this one.
The difference was, only the door to their room bore a bronze plaque with the number 001 on it.
On the signage in the center of the street was written "Financial Street Trading Platform," along with a list of the platform’s functions and guidelines.
Teresa was left utterly dumbfounded.
"Product list: beauty, health, love... Is this a miracle?"
[First-Class Holy Relic·Faustian Pact]
"Ability One: Buy low, sell high.
The contract is essentially a trading platform with coercive power, comparable to a Transcendent being of the Gold Sequence.
It can navigate the Greed in people’s hearts as guideposts, projecting its own manifestation into anyone’s inner world.
The master of the contract can earn a differential by signing service contracts with all kinds of humans, buying low and selling high.
The goods can be material or immaterial, including but not limited to weapons, transcendent abilities, beauty, health, love, fortune, time (lifespan)...
The closer the concept of the goods is to the domain of the divine, the steeper the price of the trade. This applies to both the trading partner and the master of the contract."
The virtual trading platform exists only in the spiritual world and cannot be tracked in the physical world.
In fact, there is a door in everyone’s spiritual world.
As long as a trade has been made and there was an interaction with the Faustian Contract, one can leave a mental beacon. This allows them to acquire their own door, their own exclusive room.
Any visitor here can use this platform to freely trade with Byron, the master of this contract, or with other members.
In essence, Byron drew inspiration from a certain online shopping platform to create a transcendent version of a cloud marketplace, or rather, a cloud black market beyond anyone’s scrutiny!
Byron was quite satisfied with Teresa’s expression and continued, spreading his palms, "As you can see, for the experiment with my abilities, this endeavor has just begun and is still quite rudimentary. You are the first guest to the ’Financial Street’ in the cloud. But I believe that it will soon become lively, and various facilities and services will gradually improve. Eventually, it will become a financial, commercial, and logistics center that the entire human world cannot ignore. Incidentally, it will kickstart a wealth creation campaign for those who can seize the opportunity, like... you."
Although there were some unexpected events, the original plan still had to be executed in an orderly fashion.
Neither the stock market nor the offshore financial centers could represent the essential function of this virtual online platform.
He and Catherine considered many names: "Ghost Market," "Shadow Alley," "Online Mall"... none of which were satisfactory, and something like "Wall Street" was meaningless.
They simply decided to call it Financial Street.
It represented a resource integrator whose business scope covered all aspects.
Entertaining the well-prepared Teresa was just a trial run.
One could foresee that once the Financial Street platform officially went live on a large scale, and massive amounts of money, goods, and intelligence circulated in the cloud, Boss Byron could also proudly proclaim, "I don’t like money, I’ve never touched money, I’m not interested in money."
Had the Dark Millennium not officially ended in 1453, and had the Faustian Pact—born just a few years later on the tide of the Renaissance—not fallen into the hands of the great pirate Flint, how could such a fine opportunity to establish an online platform ever have come to Byron?
Moreover, it was clear that without a huge profit share, no ruler would tolerate the existence of such a completely uncontrolled virtual trading platform.
Byron didn’t want others to associate it with him either, as that would surely be a huge problem.
He decisively created a new identity for himself.
Thinking that Woden was the origin of ’Wednesday’ in this world, he simply adopted the new name Mr. Wednesday.
He appeared before her with a fourth persona, distinct from the one pursued by the Mad Hunt, the one who was a nodding acquaintance of the Sea Hunter, and the one who was Herman’s close teammate.
Teresa silently finished reading the information on the notice board, and she understood what kind of place this was.
Especially when she saw that even a conceptual product like "health" existed, she became more convinced that Mr. Wednesday was a Legendary Grade Pawnbroker.
Without further hesitation, she raised her incomplete arm and sincerely expressed her wish, "Respected Mr. Wednesday, I would like a complete hand. Yes, I indeed need a hand very much right now."
After laying the groundwork for a long time, Byron’s lips naturally curved up as he finally began to reap the benefits today. He said, "Then, as you wish."
Picking up the quill in hand, he quickly drafted a contract.
"Teresa; Third Order Radiant Sacrificer; Physical condition: Incomplete; Trading item: One bottle of Blood Brew · Cinderella; Value: 188 Gold Pounds;
The contract is settled, no need for regrets!"
The contract did not set any traps, nor did it present excessively harsh conditions.
It only required the most common of payments in Gold Pounds.
Moreover, this contract bypassed the Royal Iron Law of all countries and was adjudicated by the Silver Law. This ensured that as long as one was not foolish enough to misinterpret the contract, there was no worry of being covertly cheated.
It guaranteed a fair transaction.
And it would leave no traces in the real world, ensuring excellent confidentiality and customer privacy protection.
All these measures greatly relieved Teresa.
Would such a Fifth Order Legendary Level figure really concern himself with the meager possessions of Middle Sequence individuals like us? His strength is a guarantee. No wonder he has the confidence to enrich others.
Immediately, she unhesitatingly wrote down her own name and used a Storage Curio to pay for the goods.
Byron then handed her a bottle of Cinderella—the kind that could regenerate amputated limbs and had once healed Eight Fingers—along with a card.
As he got up to see her off, he didn’t forget to add a bit of advertising, saying, "Financial Street is permanently neutral, not involved in the turbulent disputes of the Continent, always prioritizing the unimpeded trading channels and the property safety of our clients. Miss Teresa, I give you this red diamond membership card valued at 100 Gold Pounds. From now on, whether you are shopping in Financial Street, saving, or taking out loans... you’ll receive varying degrees of discounts. You can also set your individual style here to prevent others from recognizing your real-world identity. I believe this will not be our last transaction. Until we meet again."
With the successful experiences of the bigwigs from his past life, Byron only had to follow their example.
The red, gold, and green diamond membership levels were merely the most unremarkable basic "scythes," responsible for harvesting the first round of naïve ’crops.’
When later version updates arrive, the natives will truly feel the slight shock from the Otherworld.
Until Teresa returned to the real world, the last reminder of Mr. Wednesday still echoed in her ears. He had said, "Oh, and we’ve also launched the ’Chop It!’ campaign. If you’re a real bro, come chop for me! As long as you invite friends to register on our trading platform and ’chop’ for you, you can get any product you want for free. A grand opening celebration, don’t miss out as you pass by."
Teresa, as if in a dream, only believed she wasn’t dreaming when she clearly saw the real and authentic Cinderella in her hand.
Seeing no one around, she quickly uncorked the bottle and downed the Blood Brew in one gulp.
The severed arm immediately began to regrow at a visibly rapid pace amidst a burning pain.
"Financial Street, huh? By the Lord’s grace, my good fortune from years of charity has finally arrived."
Looking up towards St. Peter’s Cathedral on the Old Continent, her eyes twinkled with a flame, an emotion known as... ambition!
She believed that with the massive resource backing of a Fifth-order Legend, she was certain to quickly rise within the Church.
"Even though Mr. Wednesday might not care, I will surely offer him something in return within the jurisdiction of the Church, to maintain our ’friendship.’"
「Meanwhile, at the International Port, Governor’s Mansion.」
Byron also exited the virtual space of the Faustian Pact and had just opened his eyes when he saw Catherine approaching hastily with a letter.
She handed over the already opened letter to him and briefly explained its contents, saying, "It’s a letter of accountability from the Newman Family. It questions why you’ve accomplished nothing in the half-month since taking office, whether you’re taking the orders of the Royalist Party to heart, and demands that you report to Royal Harbor immediately. They also threatened that if you continue without any achievements, maintaining your rank as commodore might be quite difficult."
Byron took the letter and tossed it aside without even looking at it.
While his sister helped him dress to go out, he said emotionlessly, "If it’s going to be difficult, then let’s not bother with it. I’ll make a trip to Royal Harbor. Sister, notify Old Sam and the others to be ready. We’ve delayed too long; it’s time to officially begin the house-stealing plan. In the current Kingdom of Hightens, to secure upper-level connections and establish the colony, one needs the support of the Church; otherwise, future troubles are inevitable. But... who doesn’t have that, right?"