Chapter 359: Inventors Are All Warriors

“We’re not interested,” Mr. Truman said as he locked the car door and shook his head, declining the young stockbroker’s pitch.

Lynch didn’t mind and handed the broker a business card. The broker, sensing the tension and the presence of someone clearly not fond of him, didn’t persist and left quietly.

He showed no anger or frustration—he had been through this too many times, even facing curses and being driven away before. Compared to those experiences, these two gentlemen seemed like true gentlemen.

In fact, the broker knew Lynch. Most people in finance, politics, or who followed current affairs recognized Lynch. Even if they didn’t at first, a longer look would reveal who he was.

This was an opportunity. The broker dared to promote his yellow slips to Lynch and received a relatively positive response—a chance.

Watching the encouraged young man leave, Truman shook his head. “You shouldn’t have given him your card. He’ll keep bothering you, and they only sell those yellow slips.”

In the era before full digitization, stocks still existed in physical form. Currently, there were two main types circulating: the older, larger ones resembling rectangular bonds, and the newer, smaller ones.

The older stocks had a blue border, with anti-counterfeiting patterns, company shares, issuing company, regulatory seals, bank stamps, and handwritten signatures to prevent forgery. These were mostly early-issued stocks, when anti-counterfeiting technology was primitive, so manual signatures and seals were necessary.

With technological advances and better security measures, stocks shrank in size, about as large as two or three hundred-Sol bills laid flat, printed with currency-level anti-counterfeiting methods to stop mass forgery.

Whether old or new, these stocks have blue borders and backgrounds—known as small blue slips within the industry. Blue symbolizes safety, stability, and trust in the Federation—a universal color code.

Besides the blue slips, there’s another kind—the “small yellow slips” the broker had just pitched to Lynch. These occupy a gray area between legal and illegal.

Yellow slips are mostly issued by companies or individuals without public listing qualifications. Official agencies do not closely regulate the yellow slip market, making it a wild frontier.

They aren’t really stocks but better described as financing or fundraising certificates. Crucially, these yellow slips were created jointly by Eminence’s major brokerage firms.

They offer opportunities. For example, at this exhibition, some inventors believe their projects hold great potential but lack funding because no one values their ideas. What can they do?

They turn to brokers, or rather, brokers find them and offer generous terms.

Inventors seeking funding propose a capital raise. By paying five hundred units to a brokerage, the broker issues them stocks worth five thousand units and promotes them actively.

Many gamble this way. Inventing itself is a gamble—no one knows if their creation will become one of history’s world-changing breakthroughs.

The Federation sees tens of thousands of inventions yearly, but only a dozen or two enter daily life. This vast disparity makes invention seem extremely difficult.

But the real challenge is that no one knows if a new invention has value—it’s a gamble.

Inventors bet by issuing yellow slips to raise funds; buyers bet, too, trusting brokers’ claims—though how much is true, no one knows.

Everyone’s gambling, but brokers profit the most, taking enormous service fees.

While regular stock trades charge fees between 0.05% and 2%, yellow slips’ fees exceed 50%, sometimes with underreporting.

Due to lack of regulation, the yellow slip market is chaotic. Brokers and firms take such risks that even the President would be shocked.

Yellow slips originated as a dirty scheme by unscrupulous financiers to scam entrepreneurs and uninformed investors.

No one expected this scam to grow so large or spawn a dedicated yellow slip market with its own trading system.

Each week, Eminence brokers jointly publish yellow slip sales in a Weekly Trading Brief, telling tales of people buying cheap slips that later skyrocket by hundreds, thousands, even hundreds of thousands of times overnight.

Many of these stories are true. Yellow slips are illegal but not criminal. Spreading false rumors is illegal, but brokers avoid that. Instead, they create conditions that foster such price surges.

People love miracles, and every stock seems promising, so some invest hundreds or thousands, hoping for huge returns.

No, these financially clueless investors aren’t gambling—they sincerely believe their yellow slips will bring miraculous wealth.

Many brokers and firms survived tough economic times thanks to yellow slips.

Now that conditions have stabilized, they’re active again. Exhibitions have become key markets to push yellow slips, where inventors showcase inventions while brokers pitch their slips, profiting both ways.

To warn the public, financial institutions agreed these privately issued stocks must be yellow—a color signaling caution.

But this is useless. Investors with zero financial knowledge never heed warnings; they listen only to smooth-talking brokers.

“That term he mentioned, radio reconnaissance array, sounds high-tech and interesting,” Lynch said with a smile as they walked inside.

It sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. Given his status and wealth, he could afford curiosity.

Truman said nothing further, confident Lynch wouldn’t get caught up in it. If Lynch took a hit in the yellow slip market, he wouldn’t be Lynch.

They entered the modest exhibition gate—just a few wooden beams crudely built, with a sign and some triangular boards plastered with posters.

“Inventors and fraudsters alike—we hope to gain something today,” a soldier in uniform greeted them and led them deeper into the venue.

Walking, Truman explained, “There are two exhibits I’m particularly interested in. The military is, too.”

“First, something about harpoons. Second, a new aircraft…”

When mentioning the aircraft, Truman’s expression grew strange. “Lynch, do you know that in the field of inventions, aircraft-related innovations are called the ‘most dangerous domain’? Do you know why?”

Lynch cooperated, “Because aircraft might be used in warfare?”

Truman paused, surprised. “Why would you think that?” Without waiting for an answer, he shook his head. “Well, partly right, but not entirely.”

“Over the past decade, at least a hundred inventors have died trying to create a practical aircraft.”

“Falling, explosions, and other accidents.”

“You wouldn’t believe it—some actually tried to launch a wooden bird model with outstretched wings into the sky, like firing a cannonball!” Truman couldn’t hide a bitter smile. “Truly a tragic thing.”

Mr. Truman didn’t realize that the very inventor who died from a sudden mishap had actually pushed the progress of glider-type aircraft—though it didn’t concern him, as he wasn’t involved in that field.

When it came to aircraft, Lynch suddenly felt like an expert. He had seen aircraft before—and even rockets.

The exhibition was huge, so large that it took them over ten minutes to reach a relatively empty area at the back.

There was a roughly one-hundred-meter-long dirt road with a simple stepped viewing platform along the side, already holding a small crowd. Compared to the lively and interesting inventions inside, this place was noticeably quieter and almost devoid of children.

No children meant families didn’t come here. They avoided this area because almost every exhibition featuring flying machines had deadly accidents.

Families brought children to experience advanced science, to inspire dreams of becoming scientists—not to watch a bunch of fools crash and bleed.

It was truly a sad story.