Chapter 765: Carnival!

Chapter 765: Revelry!

Two million shares sold out on the same day.

The next day, the trading hall of the Dawn City Stock Exchange opened for the trading of circulating shares, with a large screen in the hall updating in real time the buy and sell orders and transaction prices of Baiyue Company's stock.

Since only one stock was listed on the entire exchange, Baiyue Company almost passively became the center of attention for the whole market.

Watching the transaction prices continuously hit new highs, investors' enthusiasm lost all rationality, triggering the circuit breaker mechanism several times, with trading halts lasting longer than the actual trading periods.

In a corner of the hall, a resident from Ideal City stared at the continuously soaring prices, his eyes wide with disbelief, his face etched with incredulity.

He was a representative of the institution assisting Baiyue Company with its listing guidance.

Although he had anticipated a surge after the public offering after studying Baiyue Company's business, he never expected the scene to be so exaggerated.

In Ideal City, there had never been a stock that doubled after listing.

If such a thing happened, it could only mean negligence by the auditors—the issue price was set too low!

Yet he was certain that the current situation with Baiyue Company was not due to his lack of professionalism; a price-to-earnings ratio of 20, though a bit low for such a high-growth company, was far from being absurdly low.

Another explanation—

The investors of Dawn City had all gone mad!

“…If only I had gotten an ID card when I came here on vacation at the start of the year,” the institutional representative couldn’t help but lament.

The crazy prices made his heart itch, but without an ID card, he could only watch, unable to join in.

Standing beside him was an expert from Camp 101, also one of the designers of the Dawn City Stock Exchange’s trading rules.

Hearing the representative’s sigh, the expert smiled and said,

“You’ve earned plenty yourself, haven’t you? Still coveting what’s in the pockets of ordinary folks?”

“It’s different,” the representative shook his head. “Can money earned through hard work compare to money picked up for free?”

He paused, then couldn’t help adding,

“By the way, have you really considered lifting the restrictions on purchase eligibility? I bet countless investors from Ideal City would flood in with their money, and you could raise several times—even dozens of times—the capital you have now!”

In fact, compared to Dawn City, Ideal City was a better place for Baiyue Company to list. It had broader capital and far richer resources.

The expert from Camp 101 smiled faintly and said,

“Currency is just a tool; money is just a number. Our administrators say that we have completed the distribution of social productive forces through a series of measures, and now we must also distribute the profits generated to those who created the wealth—that is, the ordinary citizens of the Alliance.”

“The administrators’ directive is that, when circumstances are appropriate, we will open up trading to investors outside the Alliance, but only after the rules of the Dawn City Exchange have matured and the capital pool has reached a sufficient scale… This is clearly not the time.”

The representative shook his head regretfully at this and sighed,

“By then, prices will have already skyrocketed. The institutions in Ideal City aren’t fools; they won’t come in to take over.”

The expert from Camp 101 nodded, agreeing with his point, but offered a different perspective.

“But if we let you in now, our investors would be devoured clean by you. The wealth they create would all end up in your pockets, and that’s something our administrators don’t want to see. There’s no perfect solution in this world. We can make countless assumptions, but we can only choose one to act on.”

“I understand,” the representative nodded, his eyes red with envy as he watched the upward-jumping numbers, saying with great regret, “I hope you can prepare quickly…”

In fact, the most envious were not the residents of Ideal City, but the merchants from other regions of the wasteland.

Especially the merchants from the Free State of Bugula to the north—their eyes practically glowed green, as if the word “envy” was written all over their faces.

They knew even more about Baiyue Company’s business than the citizens of Dawn City themselves!

This colossal enterprise, backed by two massive industrial bases, not only controlled the resource-rich raw material production base of Baiyue Province but also possessed the abundant mineral deposits of Boro Province, with its business scope covering a third of the Central Continent!

Not only that, but hundreds of Alliance companies, including the Niuma Group, Boulder Military Industries, Goblin Tech, and Factory 81, had also opened up overseas markets alongside this behemoth that was going global.

Now, this giant enterprise had also hitched a ride on the momentum of the United Commonwealth, its influence expanding continuously as the Alliance’s influence grew!

Now, all it took was a few clicks to fill out a form and become a shareholder of this giant enterprise!

Forget the issue price of 10 silver coins.

Even if it were 100 silver coins, they would unhesitatingly open their wallets and pay up!

After all, in Bugula, such an excellent company would never be so undervalued—it would have an issue price of at least hundreds of thousands of Bugulan dollars!

The all-powerful Firestone Group would take the first bite of the fat meat, their puppet gloves would take the second bite, and the manipulated audit agencies and supervisory bodies would greenlight its financial reports, making it easy to shape shit into a cake and serve it under the guise of chocolate. By the time ordinary people could buy in, they’d only be left to take over from the big shots, with nothing but beer foam to drink their fill.

As for truly quality assets, they would find ways to package them and sell them in Ideal City under a shell company in exchange for Cr. Only then would they bother to keep the books somewhat seriously.

After all, Ideal City wasn’t so easy to fool, and the cost of buying off the council was too high—so high that buying the entire city would be necessary… which was utterly impractical.

But envy aside, these merchants, who spent their days traveling far and wide, only had Alliance bank cards, not the card that proved their identity.

Even if they had channels for investment immigration, it was too late to act now…

So they could only watch.

A merchant from Bugula couldn’t help muttering sourly,

“Selling it so cheap… they’re just trying to buy people’s hearts.”

“True,” another clerk muttered, “Ten silver coins… an hour’s work buys one share. They might as well just give the company to the poor.”

The mercenary beside him nodded deeply, his clear pupils shining with the light of profound simplicity.

“Indeed, giving dividends to everyone is the same as giving no dividends. If they keep this up, they’ll end up like us—dividends won’t even keep up with the inflation rate.”

At the same time, at the entrance of the exchange, a few players in blue jackets were also staring at the jumping numbers on the screen, their faces beaming with joy.

“Holy crap! Twenty silver?!”

“It’s doubled!!!”

“Oh my…”

“Man, if only I were an NPC.”

“A soul transmigration into the game, huh.”

“Come on, you pervert. If you actually transmigrated into the game, would you survive two episodes?”

“Damn! Can’t I just play it safe?”

“Hey, is there a chance that among the NPCs, there’s actually a soul transmigrator or a reincarnator?”

Hearing the newbies’ nonsense, Bored Tiger laughed and teased,

“And then that guy has already read the script, so now he’s sitting here buying Baiyue Company’s stock, right?”

Maka Bazi burst out laughing: “Hahaha, suddenly daydreaming, huh?”

They weren’t very interested in Baiyue Company’s stock, nor were they short on cash.

When Baiyue Company went south to pioneer new lands, they had already leveled their farming-related professions to LV9 and bought a large plot of land north of West Continent City to start a big farm.

Who knows, maybe one day their own farm would be listed here—wouldn’t that be way better than buying someone else’s stock?

“Hey, what’s the point of you guys watching here? You can’t even buy any,” muttered Teng Teng as she passed by the entrance, glancing at the players crowded there.

A newbie grinned cheekily and said,

“I know the logic, but it feels good to watch.”

Just then, a gasp came from the entrance.

"Thirty silver coins!!!"

Hearing this voice, the man whipped his head back around and joined the crowd in cheering.

"Awesome!!"

"Nice one!!"

"Good shot! Pfft—good rise!!"

Teng Teng couldn't help but press a hand to her forehead, muttering softly under her breath.

"These guys have gone completely mad..."

Ya Ya: "Emm... they were never really normal, were they."

Teng Teng: "Uh, true..."

...

While the stock exchange in Dawn City was buzzing with excitement, the official website of the other world was unusually lively as well.

On the same day Baiyue Company went public, the Silver Exchange opened a new subpage—"Equity Asset Trading Page"—and added the newly listed Baiyue Company into it.

Before this, although the Silver Exchange could also trade in-game assets, buying and selling equity, there was no detailed classification of assets.

The launch of the new subpage undoubtedly signaled the game's intention to regulate the virtual asset trading market.

Shares of Baiyue Company, which had obtained a listing number, could only be traded using the game's official silver coins, not with real-world currency or any other form of coinage. All transactions were conducted publicly and could only take the form of transfers.

In other words, Baiyue Company couldn't raise funds on the Silver Exchange; players could only cash out by selling to other players through personal trades.

After all, the Silver Exchange was piled high with silver coins, essentially "game currency" distributed by Chu Guang to players. The numbers had some inflation built in. If Baiyue Company were allowed to raise funds there, it would be like scooping back the foam he had painstakingly squeezed into the reservoir and "written off."

Yet if players were banned from trading equity, the listing would lose its meaning.

So Chu Guang came up with this compromise: NPC-held shares circulated on the Dawn City Exchange, while player-held shares circulated on the Silver Exchange, with no interference between the two.

All collective fundraising by Baiyue Company could only take place on the Dawn City Exchange.

This ensured that the large sums flowing into production and operations were not the "inflated and already squeezed-out foam," but actual profits generated by the Alliance society in its production activities.

In the future, Chu Guang planned to gradually relax this restriction, but for an Alliance where "players could earn a commoner's daily income by killing a single monster," it was still too early. Allowing that would be tantamount to letting players exploit their privileges to plunder the wealth of Alliance citizens.

The money and green lights he had given players were already more than generous. With their wings fully grown, they should expand outward, exploring the broader wasteland, rather than harvesting their own people.

And as it turned out, Chu Guang's "precaution" was not without reason.

Not long after the Silver Exchange's subpage went live, Baiyue Company's stock price shot up to 200 silver coins per share!

Meanwhile, the average transaction price on the Dawn City Exchange had only risen to 37 silver coins.

Although the Silver Exchange had no concept of an "issue price"—since it only traded, not issued—such an absurd gap left both buyers and sellers speechless.

The scene was bizarre: the order book was full of buy and sell orders, yet no trades were executed. Despite the absence of a circuit breaker, trading volume remained zero for several minutes.

It looked just like the early days of the Silver Exchange, before the auction function was introduced.

Tail: "Giao! 200 silver coins... S! Quick, calculate how much money we have! Σ(?Д?;)"

S: "Tail, saying that out loud will make people hate you. But seriously, rising this high is kind of ridiculous... I wonder who's actually buying."

Quit Smoking: "Actually, I'm more curious who's selling. Why would anyone let go of this? (facepalm)"

Tail: "Hehe, Tail secretly sold a little around 50. (~︶~)"

Professor Yang, the Thunder Mage: "Holy crap, fifty?! That's a huge loss!"

④Who8UnderstandsLove: "Yeah, sold too cheap. I bet in two months, even the ones listed on Dawn City Exchange will hit 50."

Tail: "Let's all make money together, right? Tail still has several zeros left. (*/ω*)"

Worker Warrior: "Damn, I was too hasty. T.T"

Mole in the Canyon: "MMP, that bastard Fang Chang. If this keeps rising, that jerk's net worth could buy the whole Earth!"

Fang Chang: "Tsk, I thought you weren't a newbie. How come you're spouting such brainless nonsense? Can you spend valuation like cash? (side-eye)"

Mole in the Canyon: "I don't care! Dear game designer, if you don't nerf this, the game is unplayable!! T.T"

Night Ten: "Wow, the thief crying 'stop thief'? I almost forgot you invested too. Let's nerf this guy first!"

Irena: "I suggest you stop shouting, or else A-Guang might actually swing the knife. (funny)"

Elf King Wealth: "A-Guang: You guys are really making things hard for me. (funny)"

Professor Yang, the Thunder Mage: "Ah, honestly, watching this makes me anxious for you. 37 silver in-game, 200 silver on the official site. With such a huge arbitrage gap, if you could bring NPC stocks to the official site, you'd be printing money lying down!"

Night Ten: "If even you can think of that, do you think A-Guang hasn't? (funny)"

Mole in the Canyon: "Go to bed. The designer already patched this bug. NPCs and players can't transfer equity at all; only through fundraising can the equity ratio change."

Professor Yang, the Thunder Mage: "Holy shit, so what you're holding are all non-tradable shares?!"

Fang Chang: "To be precise, they're 'restricted tradable shares.' Through public offerings, you can sell equity to NPCs. Using Baiyue Company's working capital to buy back and cancel circulating shares is equivalent to buying shares from NPCs, but these operations have to be done as a whole."

"Also, the next issuance plan is another 8% of shares, tentatively scheduled after the next quarterly report or dividend plan. I estimate that once social shareholding reaches a certain proportion, players will be allowed to participate in Dawn City Exchange trading. After all, allowing free player trading at this stage is indeed unfair to NPCs—players are generally way too rich."

Professor Yang, the Thunder Mage: "Are you so rich you don't know what to do with your money, worrying about NPC wealth inequality? (crying with laughter)"

Fang Chang: "After all, this is a simulation game. Seeing the Alliance grow stronger gives us a sense of achievement too. (funny)"

Professor Yang, the Thunder Mage: "6..."

Riding a Donkey to Market: "Actually, there's an obvious loophole in this rule. Following this pattern, players' shareholding will keep getting diluted. Since 'buying back and canceling shares' is definitely harder than 'fundraising,' the overall trend is that equity will flow from players to NPCs."

Night Ten: "How do you know it's a loophole and not something the designer intentionally designed? (funny)"

Professor Yang, the Thunder Mage: "Aren't you worried at all? (crying with laughter)"

Fang Chang: "Be grateful. If you played more games, you'd know that A-Guang's methods for maintaining the game's economic stability are quite gentle. Another operator wouldn't bother reasoning with you—they'd just change your profit coefficient directly."

WC Really Has Mosquitoes: "Anton Star, which slashed normal account profits to negative, gives a thumbs up. (funny)"

Riding a Donkey to Market: "...6."

...

The listing of Baiyue Company was just a minor episode for the residents of Dawn City.

If not for the joke in the *Goblin Observer*, most people might not have bothered to queue up at all, until a few days later when Baiyue Company's stock rose to 40 silver per share.

In the lobby of the Highway Town Inn.

Staring at the newspaper in his hand, Zhou Nan shook his head and sighed with dissatisfaction.

"What a shame, each person limited to 100,000 shares. I wish the cap was a million... You know? The biggest regret of my life is choosing to go into trade instead of starting that steel mill with you."

In just a few days, the 100,000 shares in his hand had quadrupled in value!

Worth 4 million silver coins!

Though market value wasn't cash, he believed that if he put those 100,000 shares up on the exchange, they'd be sold within a day.

There were plenty of wealthy people in Dawn City, like the man sitting across from him.

He'd bet that if he were willing to sell, this guy would snap them up without hesitation.

Watching his drinking buddy sighing and lamenting, Sun Shiqi chuckled softly.

"It's not too late to regret. In a few months, my steel mill might go public too."

"Have you heard some inside scoop?" Zhou Nan's heart stirred, his gaze fixed on him with eager intensity.

Taking a sip of beer, Sun Shiqi glanced left and right, and seeing no one paying attention, spoke in a low voice.

"There's no need for inside scoop. If only Baiyue Company were approved for listing, why would the Alliance bother to set up a special exchange in Dawn City? I reckon it's not just Baiyue Company—enterprises like Niuma Group and Factory No. 81, those collectively held by shelters, will also sell part of their shares to the Alliance's general public."

And it might not stop at these giants already rolling like snowballs; some startups lacking funds could also get support.

The best way is to let investors in the former make money, then lure them with the promise of greater profits to dig for gold among a bunch of small enterprises.

To get the Alliance's residents to invest in Baiyue Company, first they need to have money. And to get them to invest in those small and medium enterprises with higher risks and growth potential, they must first make money from stable investment projects.

He believed it wouldn't be long before the Dawn City Stock Exchange moderately lowered the market's entry threshold.

Zhou Nan pondered for a moment, and it seemed to make sense. If it were just to sell 8% of the stock, there was no need to open an exchange. In other words, there would be plenty of opportunities later.

"Makes sense... Hiss... Now that you mention it, I suddenly feel 40 silver coins was too cheap. I need to buy more." Zhou Nan mused, a sudden look of regret crossing his face—he hadn't bought more when it was cheap, too busy being happy about the little gains.

Watching his friend's rueful expression, Sun Shiqi laughed heartily and took a sip of his beer.

"Don't be too greedy. I told you there will be more chances. Impatience won't get you hot tofu."

His friend saw Baiyue Company's stock price quadruple, but what he saw was the terrifying market cap after Baiyue's surge—an astonishing 25 billion silver coins!

What did 25 billion silver coins mean?

Back when he bought "Mighty Steel Mill" from Fred, it only cost him 50 million chips, which at the exchange rate then was just 25 million silver coins.

Since he borrowed that money from a bank in Dawn City, he remembered the figure clearly. Without exaggeration, that acquisition was the true starting point of his career's takeoff!

Now, after debt liquidation, the Mighty Steel Mill in Boulder City had resumed operations and remained the largest steel mill there.

If Baiyue Company was really worth 25 billion silver coins, that steel mill was worth at least 1 billion, maybe even 2 billion!

If not for Baiyue going public, he wouldn't have known he was already this wealthy.

And how much was Lister's factory worth?

That guy had recently won the bid for the power system in Golden Galleon Port, and word was he'd just set up an electric car factory. Its valuation could be 5 billion... no, maybe 10 billion, since 25 billion silver coins clearly wasn't Baiyue's limit.

In a flash of thoughts, Sun Shiqi, sipping his beer, suddenly sighed.

"Actually, I'm both excited and afraid..."

Zhou Nan, who had been calculating how much he'd "lost," looked up at him, paused, and smiled.

"Still worried about the Administrator causing you trouble? I dare say that gentleman has long forgotten you."

Sun Shiqi shook his head.

"No, that's old news. I'm thinking about that one thing—remember S-coins?"

Zhou Nan: "Of course, how could I forget something so big?"

Sun Shiqi nodded, his eyes drifting into memory, his thoughts seeming to wander with it.

"...The chips that ruled this region ran smoothly for over 150 years. Their designers included pre-war experts and shelter residents. Yet one small mistake ruined everything. I still remember the guy who sold me the steel mill; I occasionally buy him a drink."

"Ah... that drunkard, I remember him," Zhou Nan recalled.

That fellow occasionally showed up at the tavern on North Street in Dawn City, always unkempt, not nearsighted at all, yet wearing a gold-rimmed monocle.

Taking a sip of frothy beer, Sun Shiqi said slowly,

"Stupidity won't ruin a man, but madness will... That's what I fear most. I'm afraid it won't move at all, and I'm afraid it'll take one step too far and drag us all into a ditch."

Zhou Nan thought for a moment, then shrugged lightly.

"Worry is reasonable, but I think there's no need to overdo it... After all, are you that drunkard?"

Sun Shiqi: "No, I'm not."

"See, you're not him. You're the one who won..." Zhou Nan clinked glasses with his drinking buddy and raised an eyebrow. "Boulder City's lesson was harsh enough. I believe our Administrator understands it even better than you. No offense, but you just picked up a steel mill; he picked up the whole Boulder City."

"Haha, that's true." Sun Shiqi nodded with a smile, and the gloom in his heart suddenly dissipated.

After all, the Alliance was different from Boulder City.

They absorbed not just Boulder City's technology, but also the experiences and lessons of those people.

The Workers' Union and the Survivor Daily were the best proof. The Alliance didn't reject them just because they came from Boulder City; instead, it took them to the wasteland and spread them far and wide.

Since VM wouldn't become a Black Card, what did he have to worry about?

For a moment, he suddenly felt the Workers' Union, which always gave him trouble, wasn't so annoying.

Those people were sometimes a bit rough and "insatiably greedy," but at least they respected reason and the law.

Without that, he felt his own end might not be more dignified than Fred's or Vega's.

The latter at least got away, and word was he was doing well in Free State. The former also got away, but lost everything on S-coins due to greed, his wealth zeroed overnight—that was truly miserable.

Of course, understanding was one thing; when it came to fighting for his own interests, he wouldn't hold back.

"Greed... yes, not just madness, but greed too. Greed and madness are both taboos! I need to write that into the family motto." Swirling the foam in his glass, Sun Shiqi muttered to himself.

Seeing his neurotic behavior, Zhou Nan scoffed.

"You don't even know who your parents are, what family motto do you have?"

He at least had family, and had recently brought them from Jinchuan Province to the Alliance.

This guy had never mentioned his background, but since he was born in Red River Town, he was likely a slave in the mines there, or a slave's child.

Not that he looked down on his friend—just as he never hid his own serf origins.

"Doesn't matter," Sun Shiqi coughed, smiling carelessly. "It's not too late to start a family tree now... Though I was born in this godforsaken wasteland, my next generation might not be."

Zhou Nan teased with a laugh.

"First find a good woman and settle down, then talk."

Sun Shiqi laughed it off.

"Haha, we'll see about that."

The night deepened.

With a group of shelter residents joining in, the lively atmosphere in the Road Town Hotel lobby reached its peak, the clinking of glasses and chatter unceasing.

Whether it was an illusion, tonight's beer seemed especially intoxicating, even the malt aroma carried a whiff of alcohol, dizzying just to smell.

A drunk suddenly stood up and bellowed,

"Praise the Administrator!"

The shout won countless approvals, and for a moment, praises rose and fell amidst laughter.

The battlefield atmosphere group sitting at the bar smiled, brought the glass to his helmet, but found it empty and awkwardly set it down.

He was wearing a K-10 "Iron Wall" exoskeleton. With so many Verlanders in Dawn City lately, he had to wear this full-body armor when drinking here.

To be honest, drinking in this thing was really inconvenient, even more so when drunk.

Just as he put down his glass, a petite figure came over with a tray and set a new one before him.

Looking at Lisa, sweat beading on her forehead, the battlefield guy said a bit sheepishly,

"Thank you."

Gazing at the helmet with shimmering eyes, Lisa smiled brightly at him and said in a very soft voice.

"You're welcome."

Looking at that delicate, moving face, the battlefield veteran felt a bit embarrassed.

Just then, a thick hand slapped him on the shoulder, startling him—he thought his identity had been exposed, but turning around, he saw it was just a drunk.

"Hey, brother in the blue coat, say thanks for me to our esteemed Administrator—*hic*—guess what just happened? In the blink of an eye, the 1,000 silver coins in my pocket turned into 4,000! I've never been this rich!"

Laughter erupted nearby, apparently from the drunk's friends.

Seeing that the guy was really quite drunk, the battlefield veteran helped him to a stool at the bar, sat him down, and said with a casual smile.

"Our esteemed Administrator doesn't want to see you drunk like this. Besides, he doesn't care for your thanks—he just hopes that next time you lose everything and can't even afford slop, you won't curse him for not warning you first. That place isn't meant for your gambling."

"How could that be?" the man exclaimed, eyes wide, shouting, "He saved my life—I'd give him my life! A few thousand silver coins can't buy me, nor change my faith!"

Not taking his words to heart, the battlefield veteran just patted his shoulder and handed him the cup of water Lisa had passed over.

"Since that's the case, then stick to your word—never sell it, no matter what, for your whole life. I don't know how much the annual dividends are, but it's enough to keep you soaking in a vat of booze."

The drunk burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha, don't worry—I'd die before selling it! I'll be loyal to him forever! I'll pass it down, generation after generation, to my son, to my grandson!"

Watching this muddled fellow, the battlefield atmosphere crew member smiled.

"Is that so? Best if it is. One day you'll thank me."