"I owe you a favor!"

In the manor hidden within the dense woods, Mr. Pato raised his glass, a rare smile appearing on his face.

He clinked glasses with Lynch, and they each took a small sip.

The serene outdoor lunch included only the two of them and a butler; everyone else was far away.

"Try this...," Mr. Pato signaled the butler to bring Lynch a steak.

The butler brought the steak from a cooking cart in front of a chef from a distance. The steak, sauce, and some pickles looked very appetizing.

"Looks great!" Lynch said as the butler steadied the steak, picking up the knife and fork to cut another piece.

The steak was extremely tender.

It wasn’t the kind of tenderness that comes from being undercooked, but rather the tenderness that comes after being fully cooked.

The knife and fork met little resistance as they completed their task.

Looking at the steak pierced on the fork, it had a beautiful texture, appearing bright, mainly due to its high fat content and some special methods used during marination to ensure its flavor.

This steak came from a very special breed, top-grade ingredients prepared for high society, and it wasn’t cheap.

This carefully selected beef, even when fully cooked, didn’t taste dry or tough.

The fat between the muscle fibers was now almost translucent, and even before putting it in one’s mouth, one could imagine the rich and distinct aroma of the beef fat.

Dipping it in a bit of sauce, and putting it in his mouth, Lynch nodded in satisfaction at the melt-in-your-mouth sensation.

This is true tenderness, unlike some current global pursuits of tenderness, seeking methods in cooking time rather than in ingredients and technique.

Steak, or rather beef, has grades, many levels, from those unfit for human consumption to the kind that won’t appear in stores, all have their grade.

If beef were divided into ten levels, feedlot beef would be level one, while the beef Lynch ate was level ten, and most beef consumed by ordinary families was probably around level three to four.

Level two is the kind of ground beef, often used for making patties.

Whether a person is rich or poor, there will always be a desire for enjoyment, and the pursuit of food is one of them.

Nowadays, some restaurants, to let ordinary consumers experience the taste of premium beef, started not cooking steaks fully as in the past, but half-cooked.

This ensures that when lower-grade beef is served to customers, it can be easily cut and eaten and has that high-end steak taste.

This is a wrong approach; it shouldn’t have been born, but... ordinary people don’t feel much about it.

When making steak at home, ordinary families, whether frying or grilling, always cook it fully.

Only when they enjoy steaks in restaurants do they have them less cooked, giving them the illusion they are enjoying a premium steak.

This approach does bring new sales trends for restaurants, but it also causes some unexpected impacts.

However... who cares, that’s how the world is; there will always be unexpected changes.

Lynch swallowed the piece of beef, had a small slice of pickle; the beef was so tender, it was also a bit fatty, honestly quite greasy. At this time, eating some pickles was very fitting.

"It’s delicious!" Lynch commented.

Mr. Pato maintained his slightly smiling expression, "I really like this beef, so much so that I bought a pasture for it; if you like, I can have some sent to you regularly."

Lynch didn’t refuse; at their level, regularly sending ingredients was not even considered a "small favor," it was just an attitude.

Seeing Lynch didn’t object, Mr. Pato picked up a napkin to wipe his hands, and lit a cigarette, "Do you know Mr. Wycliffe?"

Lynch also put down his knife and fork, sipped his wine, and shook his head, "Sorry, I haven’t heard of him. What does he do?"

"A..." Mr. Pato paused for a few seconds, thinking about how to better describe the person, "...crazy speculator."

"He’ll do any business as long as the return is high enough..."

Through Mr. Pato’s introduction, Lynch gradually understood this Mr. Wycliffe, who seemed more like a rogue speculator.

His dedication to wealth and returns made him quite famous in certain circles, not because his investments were incredibly precise, or that his investments generated significant returns, but because of his methods.

"He likes to blame others and shift his losses onto others, if the businesses he’s got his eye on make money, that’s good; if not, things usually get troublesome."

Mr. Pato shook his head slightly, "The private island of the Charlie siblings was burned down by him."

"He is searching worldwide for the whereabouts of Charlie and his siblings..."

Lynch roughly understood Mr. Pato’s meaning, "Do you think he’ll cause trouble for me?"

Mr. Pato nodded cautiously, "No, he will definitely cause trouble for you."

"I heard he’s borrowed a lot of money and goods this time, preparing to make a significant profit, but it all fell apart in his hands."

"He’s already out to trouble Charlie and his siblings. I think it will be hard for him to recover his losses; some say he’s lost nearly three hundred million, of which only about a tenth is his own, the rest he got from elsewhere."

"Now he is under pressure from the financiers, trying to gather money before the whereabouts of Charlie and his siblings are exposed. There are very few who can cover his losses."

Mr. Pato’s meaning is already very clear; now there are likely only a few who can quickly raise a large amount of cash, and Lynch is one of them. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

In the Federation, there is no such thing as "secret," and it might not be long before Lynch’s role in this whole affair becomes apparent.

By then, he could easily be seen by Mr. Wycliffe as the culprit of his losses, a rogue tycoon, not a traditional capitalist.

He has combined terror with capital, forming a new shape of "terror capital," or "violent capital."

He is sure to find a way to trouble Lynch in order to recover his losses, and Mr. Pato, who now has a decent relationship with Lynch, feels he needs to give him a heads-up.

After hearing this, Lynch smiled, "He better not have such thoughts."

This little "warning" ends here. Then, Mr. Pato took a deep breath, "How is Anna doing recently? I haven’t seen her in a while; I heard she’s very busy."

Lynch nodded, "I handed over all the matters of Future Light to her. It’s a kind of exercise for her, and of course, I can also take it easy."

Mr. Pato nodded once, "I understand Future Light Investment Company. Your investment firm is different from other investment companies; it already has the embryo of a consortium, but it’s not completely like us..."

Traditional consortiums, or investment companies, are like a magnet; how much capital they have equals how much attraction they possess.

Ultimately, their goal is to control more companies, forming a tightly monopolized group. In such traditional groups, each subsidiary is a part.

Unless absolutely necessary, they won’t easily divide.

But Lynch’s investment company is different; no subsidiary is inseparable from it. As long as there’s enough profit, it can invest in subsidiaries, promote them to go public, and then sell them off.

Or directly split and package them.

Simply put, if it can make money, it will do it. It looks like... it’s not as stable as traditional investment companies.

Once it holds shares in a company, it will hold onto them indefinitely, regardless of the company’s operational status, as long as no significant issues affect the parent company, it won’t easily abandon these subsidiaries.

These subsidiaries act like roots, firmly grasping the soil to fend off enemy invasions while trying to provide nutrients to the upper company. This is the traditional consortium’s composition.

Traditional consortiums still lean towards the physical industry, which strengthens monopoly or control of the sector.

Subsidiaries can form a complementary relationship in business with the parent company or other subsidiaries, forming an ecosystem in turn.

For instance, consortiums like Star Dream Butterfly primarily run in mineral resource development and operation, so they have their own refineries, transport systems, and rough processing plants.

This forms an industrial ecological chain, building upstream and downstream industries around some core ones, and it more heavily leans towards production.

The investment company Lynch established is different; it leans more towards capital operation and pure financial manipulation. It seems like it lacks thick sedimentation but actually sheds the most burdensome weights.

For example, with social development and progress, economic recovery, workers’ wages will become an increasingly heavy expense in the future.

There are also expenses like innovative enterprise R&D, among many others.

Future Light now does not establish more connections with these enterprises; when a company does not provide benefits to Future Light, it will be mercilessly abandoned.

In the world of capital, there isn’t much warmth, and this is certainly a trend in future development.

This doesn’t mean physical enterprises are not good; conversely, if a stable, excellent physical industry foundation is attainable, for a large group company, it’s very necessary and valuable.

The core of capital, after all, is the pursuit of more profit. Lynch will completely separate industry from capital, and the advantage is that if needed, Future Light Investment Company can serve as a "middle person," effectively connecting these companies.

If unnecessary, or if some accidents occur, whether Future Light Investment Company or those subsidiaries it invests in can quickly sever connections.

It’s more variable, more flexible, and also colder!

When people talk about consortiums hosted by Mr. Pato, they might think about many affiliated enterprises related to this group company.

But when people talk about Lynch and his investment company, the only significant impression is just this company!