Chapter 917: Didn’t Expect Someone Greedier Than Me

EveryMoment’s business stood on a fragile balance. The major warlords in Marilo had yet to turn on each other and were quietly building their own strength.

Since no one was ready to eliminate the others and establish a unified regime, the warlords maintained a surface-level friendliness.

Even if there were minor conflicts, they never escalated into large-scale armed clashes.

But if EveryMoment were to sever ties with the warlord backing it, the other warlords would have the motive and excuse to make a move—establish their own supply systems with EveryMoment and seize the business.

So Lynch didn’t care at all about Sanchez or his general father’s attitude. In the Federation, everyone must follow the rules of the game here.

Whether that person is a warlord’s son, a warlord himself, or the President of the Federation, they must all obey the rules—rules set by capitalists.

What happened at the EveryMoment shareholders’ meeting didn’t stay hidden for long. Once it was confirmed that the next official meeting would be held on May 1st, news of this meeting’s developments quickly spread.

Someone was deliberately publicizing what had happened, and Lynch didn’t even need to guess—it had to be the banks.

If Eminence’s capitalists were crocodiles, then the banks were prehistoric crocodiles.

Bigger, with sharper teeth—and an even greater appetite.

They saw an opportunity to make serious money and were determined to push events in that direction.

As the largest shareholder, Lynch was clearly within their outreach plans.

On the third night after the emergency meeting, a senior manager from Prosperity Bank’s Asset Enforcement Department personally visited Lynch.

That department specialized in liquidating the assets of individuals or companies who couldn’t repay their debts, to recover the bank’s losses.

Thankfully, they operated under the name of a bank and as capitalists—otherwise people would just call it fencing stolen goods.

The manager brought Lynch a few small, cheap trinkets as gifts, then followed him into his study.

“Mr. Lynch, after reviewing today’s shareholder meeting, the bank has reassessed the risk. We no longer believe holding shares in EveryMoment long-term will yield worthwhile returns.”

Lynch crossed his legs, placed his hands on his knees, and nodded slightly for the manager to continue.

Seeing this, the manager smiled more warmly. Lynch hadn’t interrupted, which meant they had a basis for cooperation. “You’re the major shareholder. I still hold just under 10%, and we can rally a few others.”

“We already control the key votes.”

“The dispute over the founder’s shares could drag on for a long time, posing significant risk to us. So the bank has presented us with a new option.”

Lynch nodded again. “Let’s hear it.”

The manager hesitated briefly, thinking through how best to phrase it. After a moment, he spoke. “We plan to partner with the companies pursuing the acquisition. If we reach over 51% ownership, we’ll break up EveryMoment.”

“We’ve identified Coluff as the most profitable division. That’ll be spun off, along with the rapidly growing standard tobacco segment.”

“The rest, which are mostly break-even or losing money, will be discarded…”

Simply put, Prosperity Bank’s plan was to consolidate control through the major shareholders, seize the board, and then split EveryMoment into over a dozen independent companies, restructuring equity.

There would be two types of companies:

To be discarded

To be harvested

The discard group would mortgage all their real estate to the bank to secure a lump sum. That money would then be funneled—interest-free and indefinitely—into the companies marked for harvesting, through special channels.

Then the discarded companies would declare bankruptcy. The bank would seize their real estate, turning a profit. After all, getting a $6–7 million loan on $10 million in property was already a stretch, but banks had no problem selling that off.

Meanwhile, the harvest companies would suddenly be sitting on a pile of cash. With some cosmetic improvements, their valuation would skyrocket, attracting investors easily.

Then they’d be sold off at a premium. Everyone involved would get a fat return—except those who were destined to be abandoned from the beginning.

Even then, their losses wouldn’t be too tragic. After bankruptcy, they’d just live like normal people—find a job to survive instead of sitting in an air-conditioned office reading quarterly reports and planning dinner outings.

This was a common tactic—and currently the most popular financial maneuver in Eminence. That’s why finance companies were nicknamed “the jackals of Eminence.”

They didn’t care about founders’ lives. They stuffed future money into their pockets by trampling on others’ dreams and destroying their futures.

Once done, they’d wipe their hands and walk away, leaving behind bankrupt firms and mass layoffs.

Lynch looked at the manager and cut to the chase. “Is someone planning to buy EveryMoment’s tobacco business?”

The manager’s pupils contracted sharply. He quickly lowered his head to hide the change in his expression. When he looked back up, his face was calm again.

But Lynch had already caught that brief flicker of panic.

“How would you come to that conclusion, Mr. Lynch?” the manager asked, unable to resist. He knew he could fool most people—but not someone like Lynch, who had already pieced together the truth.

If Lynch hadn’t suspected, they might’ve kept him in the dark a little longer. But now that he had, with a few calls, he could uncover everything. So the manager didn’t hide it anymore.

He voiced his question aloud.

Lynch showed no pride or smugness. He remained composed. “It doesn’t take much guessing. Just Coluff alone, plus squeezing the other departments, is worth at least 600 million.”

“A business of that size can’t be quietly absorbed by the market. Running it independently is too costly. The only plausible scenario is that someone’s got their eye on it and is planning to acquire it—through you.”

The manager sighed. He was convinced.

“Time Fortune is after the tobacco business. They heard what happened at the meeting and reached out to us…”

Time Fortune, also known as Fortunate Times, was one of the Federation’s top three tobacco companies—a latecomer that had risen quickly.

It was originally just an ordinary tobacco company—like most small- to medium-sized tobacco firms, it dominated in a specific region but lacked influence on a national scale.

The president of Time Fortune seized a crucial opportunity years ago: they launched several filtered, blended cigarettes specifically designed for women.

At the time, feminist organizations were campaigning for the right of women to smoke in public, but there were no products on the market tailored for women—nothing with a milder taste or more refined experience.

As soon as Time Fortune’s women’s cigarettes hit the shelves, they exploded in popularity across the Federation. Their active participation and support of feminist movements also helped them become one of the most beloved brands among modern women.

This previously unremarkable tobacco company rose overnight to become one of the Federation’s top three tobacco companies.

Of course, this was also tied to women’s purchasing power. Women’s cigarettes were typically more expensive than men’s, even though they used less raw material. A single extra roasting step significantly boosted profits.

After this rapid expansion, Time Fortune began planning further growth, aiming to become even larger and more powerful.

As the saying goes: if you want to know whether a tobacco company is truly strong, just see if they have the Coluff line.

Coluff, a premium product favored by the upper class, had always been a target for Time Fortune. But they were never able to break into that circle.

That was one of the trade-offs of their success through women’s cigarettes. High society was still male-dominated, and the mainstream elite didn’t appreciate Time Fortune’s market strategy. As a result, the company had long struggled to gain traction there.

When EveryMoment encountered trouble, Prosperity Bank’s first move was to contact Time Fortune. They had always wanted a breakthrough, and now the opportunity had arrived.

Prosperity made this move because they stood to gain the most from this split-and-acquisition deal.

That included:

A large amount of prime real estate under EveryMoment, returns from their equity stake in EveryMoment, portions of their issued loans that would circle back into their own pockets, and the funds they would lend to Time Fortune so it could acquire EveryMoment’s Coluff division.

In fact, the money lent to Time Fortune would also be converted into debt equity—just as they had done with EveryMoment.

The loans became investments, turning into equity with dividend rights. When risks appeared, they’d offload the stock or demand repayment with interest.

With just a few moves, they could make tens or even hundreds of millions in profit—enough to excite Prosperity’s shareholders.

That’s why they proactively reached out to Lynch. Without enough support, the entire plan couldn’t go forward.