"You know, everyone thinks they are the smartest one...", in a café not far from the port, Mr. Herbs and his international banker friends were enjoying a hearty breakfast.

Having breakfast in a café in the morning isn't exactly novel, especially in Bupen, a city that "never stops". People don't have the time to leisurely make a cozy breakfast around the kitchen. From the moment they open their eyes, they blame themselves for sleeping too long and for their weakness.

The weakness comes from their desire to continue sleeping, possibly having less than six hours of sleep the entire day, yet having countless reasons forcing them to get up.

Ignoring dreams that may never come true, just the monthly expenses on housing, various services and education costs, loans, and installments. If they don't want to be kicked out of the city like trash, they have to get up immediately to work.

The media in Bupen have reported more than once about the chief executive officer of a certain corporation getting up at 5:30 every morning. The lifestyle of the upper class is almost the same as everyone else's - going to bed late, getting up early - leaving people with less to complain about.

Upon waking in the morning, to quickly enter the busy day, people often buy a sugarless coffee from a café to wake themselves up. This might be the only cup of coffee without sugar and milk for a Federation citizen all day.

Then they might grab a wrap or buy a hot dog on the street. This is also why Bupen's coffee shops open early; the first wave of customers arrives when those who earn one or two hundred bucks, who always complain about not being wealthy enough, are still deep in slumber.

This group, including Mr. Herbs, thereby has a shelter from the wind and rain. The cold wind outside is something they're unaccustomed to, those who like to travel the world, spending winters and summers in climates they prefer.

However, fortunately, those present, including Mr. Herbs, aren't concerned with such trivial matters. The important thing is they've seen money, an uncountable amount of money.

Mr. Herbs put down his cup and looked at the others, "The Federation Government is indeed a bit crazy. They're eager to prove to the world their influence in multiple domains and their control over the world."

"They are too civilized, thus ignoring that the dominance between countries doesn't come from civilized diplomacy!"

"However, this is a good opportunity for us!", he reached for and took a roasted bean from a small dish, peeled it, and popped it into his mouth. The roasted bean's aroma mixed with the coffee, creating a refreshing sensation.

He spoke slowly, and the gentlemen around him were not impatient, each savoring their coffee, enjoying a leisure moment.

"The Federation people's naivety will ruin themselves, but this has nothing to do with us. On the contrary, we can make a fortune off the Federation people!"

Mr. Herbs glanced at two departing police cars and shook his head slightly, "Lynch thinks his friend, Mr. Truman, can persuade Gafura to allow him to redeem his bonds, then what we have to do is prevent him from doing so in the short term."

"I know some of us have connections over in Gafura, please use those connections. I believe, if any of you can achieve this, the rest of us wouldn't mind if you take a larger portion of the profits in the end."

Everyone nodded, and among those seated here, there was no one newly entering society with the naive thought of 'if Lynch can make money, we can also make money, everyone can make money'.

Here, each well-dressed gentleman's displayed manners and virtues are merely a façade.

They are crocodiles that devour without leaving bones, not only wanting to seize Lynch's money, the profits from Gallil's appreciation, but also rip a large chunk out of the Federation.

So when Mr. Herbs spoke, those international bankers began to laugh heartily.

Their willingness to sign a betting agreement with Lynch was primarily for those valuable Gafura Bonds in Lynch's hands. From the start, they never considered a hundred percent redemption. Even at fifty percent face value redemption, the profit this time would exceed around twenty million Fla.

This sum is equivalent to at least five years of income for these people, and in today's still challenging global economy, the money is especially important.

"Your Highness, how do you plan to persuade the Gafura to refuse their terms?", a minor nobleman raised his question.

Among these international bankers were not lacking some nobles from small countries, some even front figures for these small countries' imperial families or rulers, managing a significant amount of funds on behalf of those behind.

Mr. Herbs himself, though noble as a prince, has wealth exceeding that of the King, being called "a symbol of wealth" in his country, while his royal brother is considered "poor". People like their poor King, not their wealthy Prince.

But in reality, no one knows this money actually belongs to both him and his brother. A considerable portion, more than half, is actually the King's assets.

The purpose is quite simple, to deceive the public. For a not-so-wealthy monarch-driven small country, if the King is too wealthy, it would lead people to believe their wealth is being plundered by the King, which isn't favorable for the imperial family's rule.

So the King must appear poor, while simultaneously needing a contrasting figure, such as the wealthy Prince who is always trying to amass more wealth by all means.

But the King and the imperial family won't stand by watching such matters arise, won't stand idle as the Prince gets richer. Sometimes, the King and the Prince also engage in 'struggles', and such struggles are of more political and demagogical nature.

An intelligent but poor King has ways to obtain money from his wealthy, greedy, and foolish brother to support national policies and designs. Whenever the King manages to make the Prince bitterly swallow a bitter pill again, people cheer for the King's cleverness and rally more tightly around the royal family, protecting its power.

Some people even turned the struggles over the years between the King and the Prince into a series of stories, which became quite popular.

Such rulers' deception techniques don't occur in just one country; many countries have similar stories, so don't expect great 'kindness' from the gentlemen around Mr. Herbs.

The word 'kindness' is far from them. They want to devour the enormous profit from Gallil's appreciation, as well as swallow Lynch's bonds.

Mr. Herbs raised his hand, touching his slender mustache, "We are not trying to convince Gafura to refuse to redeem the bonds. That would entail too great a cost, possibly attracting Federation official attention."

"What we need to do is merely to persuade the Gafura to delay redeeming the bonds, as in...", he left the sentence hanging, sipping his coffee after peeling another bean.

The gentlemen's little hearts were anxious but maintained a composed demeanor.

After Mr. Herbs swallowed the chewed bean residue, he finally said, "We just need the Gafura to delay the redemption period. The final termination date of our betting agreement is in June, so now we shouldn't do anything."

"We should first contact people over there, see what their weaknesses are, and then around April or May, make sure they are unable to mobilize funds in the short term."

Mr. Herbs spoke nonchalantly, but he already had an entire plan in mind. He did not say it outright to prevent any sudden alliance shifts towards the Federation or Lynch.

Obviously, even if the Federation and Lynch knew about his intentions, the Federation would not intervene for two reasons. Firstly, none of these actions have actually transpired; he just helped Lynch raise a hundred billion Gallil in cash, and the Federation won't immediately turn around to target him. Future Federation ambitions in the international society would then be questioned for their motives and raise concerns over safety.

Secondly, this being normal business conduct isn't targeting a country, much less maliciously against the Federation. This just concerns Lynch and their matters without substantial conflicts with the Federation's plans.

What they want is still those bonds Lynch mortgaged to them, not the death of the Federation's development plans, so the Federation has no reason to intervene in the battle between these capitalists.

Without the Federation giant's help, Mr. Herbs believes Lynch cannot be their opponent, not even against him alone.

He managed to make Lynch suffer once in an auction, and this time will be the same; he is confident about this.

Moreover, to his knowledge, Lynch doesn't have any connections in Gafura. In a few months' time, he wouldn't be able to establish a network in Gafura as someone from the Federation. He is destined to lose.

Thinking this, a smirk appeared on Mr. Herbs's lips. The other gentlemen observed him, naturally noticing this smirk. Soon, cheerful laughter filled the room, for they all knew they were about to become prosperous!

Within less than half a day, Lynch, United Development Company, and the Federation's move to ingest Gallil shocked the world. With international hot money chasing after it, Gallil's exchange rate appreciated unexpectedly fast.

On the afternoon of December 25, the original exchange rate of Gallil to Fla was 237 to 1. However, after a brief period of fluctuation, it shifted to a rate of 169 to 1.

This means that for all those holding Gallil, in just one day without doing anything, their wealth increased by over twenty percent!

The column reporter for the International Observer even described it as a "world miracle"!

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