679 A Million Dollars

"Is it really wise to let her go off with a million dollars just like that?!" Rei questioned blatantly right in front of Claire and Jin. As the current System User, he was undoubtedly jealous given the amount she was going to keep. Fortunately, the System clarified the situation and cleared the air of any animosity.

"Demon Exorcist Claire will not be able to claim the one million USD in a single transaction. It will bring up red flags and might cause trouble for her, Grandma Yuan and the User." The System stated, and somehow Claire began to reveal a chuckle.

"Hahaha! Did you really believe I can transfer one million USD into my bank just like that? Maybe it would be possible if I was some big shot or working for the Triads. Unlike you, I don't have a System. I am just a demon exorcist instructor and secretary to Grandma Yuan. If she says that she is a nobody, then that naturally applies to me too." Claire had fun teasing the two males in front of her.

"Besides, having that much money lying around is bound to alert not just the bank but the secret police too. I do not want them to come after me for no particular reason. So, I have placed that money in a shell company and put myself on 'their' payroll. It will write a partial sum for me to withdraw every two months to various bank accounts I own." Claire folded her arms.

"Not to mention, those terrible personal taxes that I'd have to declare after I receive the payout." Her voice was filled with dread, yet it was apparent that Claire had the ability to evade those taxes but still decided to pay them. He wondered if there was something that led to Claire acting like such a law abiding citizen or if she was just morally obedient.

"In any case, you should check with Xiong Da if he happens to know any good Japanese lawyers that will help facilitate the transfer of rights for Rei." Claire shared the next step even though she felt it might be a bit unnecessary.

Still, it was always better to be overly prepared.

"At this point, I think they will accept any help that comes along their way. Just go through the correct procedure and get yourself some insurance so that everything proceeds smoothly. Don't forget you are technically an outsider and should continue to act the part of a potential investor despite your relationship with them." Claire added, and Jin agreed to message Xiong Da for Rei. For now, the issue was settled despite the frightening move by Claire to acquire 3 million USD in an hour.

"User, please be aware that while the amount of money was considerable minute in the grand scheme of the Black Stock Market, there were already eyes prying at Claire. After the last transaction, the Financing Sub System was ready to forcefully log her out before performing scrambling procedures courtesy of Foxy's counter tracking techniques from the Abyss Web." The System quietly transmitted its message to Jin's mind.

"Is that why you rated her poorly?" Jin questioned as Claire still continued to give some last minute advice to Rei. She was obviously over the top after earning that amount of money, and he guessed that she was on an adrenaline rush right now.

"Affirmative. Demon Exorcist Claire does possess some promising skills, but her unkempt aggressiveness might cause the System and User trouble if she does not learn to act more carefully. In the Black Stock Market, System quotes the following saying from a previous member of the System: 'Gambling is like hunting. You need to wait, give it time. For it is time that rules all gambles. Big success is not something to strive towards. Because people will start to follow you, learn from you, be wary of you and eventually take your prey, your family and ultimately your livelihood!'"

"But you only gave her a few blue chip shares to begin with. Her turnover was five mil!" Jin pretended to laugh, but in his mind, he was arguing with the System.

"Financing Sub System stated that the turnover she made was average. It analysed that there had been other companies she could have placed her shares in to flip in the very last minute." The System replied which made Jin curious as to why it did not advise Claire instead.

"It was a test for Claire, and there was no guarantee that the Financing Sub System was totally correct despite its excellent predictive analysis."

"Because it's the Black Stock Market? Anything unpredictable can happen?"

"Correct. Does User recall the September 11 terror attack at the US world trade centre? The European Stocks had been falling steadily for the past few months, but evidently, there were rush buying of shares from those companies. The moment the plane crashed, somehow the European company stocks went up drastically along with the Asian Stocks."

"While most of the world believed that it was genuinely a terror plot, they never knew that it was all about the money behind the scenes. Speculations, with substantial evidence, highly suggested that the attack was planned to target the overwhelming US market."

"Wow, that's dirty. Very dirty."

"Ever since then, the Black Stock Market got even…in your saying, 'dirtier'. Major companies were secretly sending businessmen on corporate sabotage missions or even terror attacks on a regular 'irregular' basis. In fact, as part of the revenge plot from the terror attack, the United States was the first to kickstart the financial crisis in 2007 to push everyone down from their high horses."

"So that is why you have to limit Claire using the omnipotent Financing Sub System despite your anti-scrambling procedures. No wonder Kraft who's literally a godly hacker refuses to use it to make money for my business." Jin thought to himself while he pretended to be on the phone to continue the conversation with the System.

"Indeed. Especially when User's store is still too small and unworthy of the trouble it is bound to attract. Besides, User is already a power magnet for unlucky encounters. System needs to reduce such possibilities whenever able to." The System noted, and Jin rolled his eyes.

At that point, his phone vibrated for real, and so he decided to pick up the call.

"Boss Jin! Ke Loong here. When are we going to discuss the portal instances that we previously talked about? Oh, also Happy New Year to you!" Ke Loong was so overly excited that he practically screaming. Jin needed to put the phone at least 10 centimetres away to continue his call.

"And I also heard of that…peculiar circumstance that you were forced into by Tiger Clan Head Yuan Ba." Ke Loong emphasised much on the last part.

"I understand. If you have the time, I'll be more than happy to meet you later during dinner. I have some discussion going on right biw, so I'll come after that." Jin promised.

For a change, it was Ke Loong who agreed to wait for his customer rather than the other way around. This just showed how badly Sea Mesh's CEO wanted the portal instances to succeed.