Empire of Shadows

Cooper was an automotive engineer working in Golden State.

His main job involved doing what he could in the car factory around car production, for example... repairing the machines on the assembly line. He was responsible for the production quality and maintenance of the assembly line machinery.

He was a graduate of an ordinary university, which was why he was now on the factory floor, instead of in the office.

Only those from prestigious universities were qualified to sit in the office, and he was not one of them.

He had also longed to change his current situation and to be able to work in an office instead of always being on the assembly line. He had tried hard, but had failed repeatedly.

The lessons from his multiple failures taught him a principle: the school he graduated from and the potential network of contacts that school had in society, was, besides one’s bloodline, the second factor that could determine your future height from the very beginning.

When he competed with engineers from those prestigious universities for an office position, the company could always find a reason to keep him on the factory floor.

For example...

They would say that he was very experienced in his work, and knew how to correctly handle all kinds of emergencies, and was also very familiar with his colleagues.

The assembly line couldn’t do without him. Then they would give him a two-dollar raise, and have him stay here.Or they would tell him that the company hoped to give younger people some opportunities for experience, and that his opportunity would never be lost. The next time a suitable position came up, they would definitely choose him.

After a few times, he gradually understood that the university he had graduated from was too poor. He had no way to compete with the ”alumni” in the office.

From the president to his immediate superior, they all basically came from two particular prestigious universities. They were all alumni.

So after Cooper gradually accepted reality, he focused his energy on other things.

Investment.

Living in Golden State, it was impossible not to be interested in the miracles constantly happening on Deterland Street in New Golden City. Everyone would be interested in these miracles. It was like a certain ordinary person who had entered Deterland Street with five thousand dollars.

And after a few days, he had left with one hundred thousand!

Miracles like this were happening almost every day. Of course, people subconsciously ignored those who had lost all that money. They could only see the successful ones.

Cooper also hoped to become one of these successful investors, but he wasn’t blind. He didn’t know much about what was happening behind the scenes.

He bought some books to read, but the more he read, the more confused he became.

For example, a book called ”Chasing the Rise, Killing the Fall: How I Made a Million” was written by a person hailed as ”the best trader in the Federation in the last twenty years.”

It detailed the entire process of this legendary trader going from a hundred dollars to a million, when he made which trades, and whether he went through any crises. He had a clear description, and it matched the historical trend.

Another ”stock market god” wrote a book titled ”How to Calmly Observe the Traps Behind the Market,” which detailed that the biggest taboo in the stock market is chasing the rise and killing the fall. He also used many cases and historical trends to prove this point.

Chasing the rise and killing the fall is often the beginning of a fall into the abyss.

Both books were bestsellers and were highly praised, but he was more confused.

One told him that he should chase the rise and kill the fall, as the risk was small.

The other told him that he absolutely must not do so, because when you discover a stock that can make money, its money has actually already been earned by someone else.

So this made Cooper very confused. The more books he read, the more he found that the content of almost most of the books contradicted each other.

Some told you that high volume is a phenomenon of profiting, but others told you that high volume is a sign of institutional entry.

The more he read, the more confused he became, and the less he dared to invest. He showed reverence towards those successful people.

Some time ago, he participated in a stock market salon. A group of people in his community were very interested in investing in stocks.

They would also sit down and discuss each other’s gains and experiences in investing. Sometimes they could indeed provide some eye-opening insights, and quite a few people had indeed made money.

In an ordinary community, people might compare jobs—whoever had a good job was the focus of attention.

But in a middle-class community, everyone basically had a good job. Comparing non-comparable jobs in different fields was meaningless to them.

So they competed over who could earn more income outside of work, or who could become a company partner.

In the previous few salons, he heard people talking about a stock called ”Hope Mining,” a new stock.

The person who spoke about this stock didn’t talk about how powerful it was, or what kind of crazy returns it could bring. They said that this stock was very stable.

Its market value would increase by more than ten percent every year, which was much higher than the interest the bank offered.

Then others also talked about this stock. Quite a few people had bought this stock, which made Cooper interested in it as well.

He called his stockbroker, and then, pretending to casually mention it during a chat, he asked about this stock.

His stockbroker immediately recommended this stock to him, and said many things. He didn’t quite understand, but he knew that everyone was saying that this stock was very good.

It was very stable, and had strong risk resistance. After all, its main industry was mining.

The mine was just there. The ore in the mine would not suddenly disappear due to natural disasters or other reasons. With the Federation’s current status in the international community, no one would dare to mess with federal assets.

This stock was very stable.

His stockbroker also said that some banks had considered acquiring this stock.

He said a lot, and Cooper, who had never invested in stocks before, but was very interested in it, yet was very confused and ignorant, decided to make Hope Mining his first investment.

He bought five thousand dollars worth of stock. In less than a month, the five thousand dollars had turned into over six thousand. This speed shocked him. Then he bought more.

The most attractive thing about stocks is that the more you invest, the more you produce. Unconsciously, it can make a person bet everything!

With continuous good news and a continuously rising trend, he invested all the funds he had in his hand. The total amount had exceeded one hundred thousand, which was almost all of his family’s savings.

He might have one or two thousand dollars left in his account as liquid funds. After all, a middle-class family is not only richer than an ordinary person, but also has more bills.

He needed to clear these bills in time, and also needed to deal with various sudden situations, so he had kept a little money.

Before the New Year, his stockbroker had called him and told him to keep his phone on, saying that there would be good news soon.

He had been waiting. He was also curious about what the good news was, until this morning.

On his way, he habitually bought a copy of the ”Trader” newspaper, which mentioned that Hope Mining would soon announce the dividend situation for its freely circulating shares.

They were going to distribute dividends!

”Cooper, come over. You have a phone call,” the young man in the office stood by the door and shouted at him.

The young man, who was about ten years younger than him, and had only been working for three or four years after graduating from university, and had almost no management or actual work experience, but had become his superior, made him snap back to reality a little.

He was stunned for a moment, then quickly said ”okay” and walked over.

There was a public phone in the workshop that could only receive calls, not dial out. He walked outside the office. The light on the phone on the wall was lit.

He picked up the phone. ”This is Cooper.”

”Mr. Cooper?”

”I’m your stockbroker. The dividend situation for Hope Mining’s freely circulating shares has just been released. You will receive about three thousand dollars.”

”That little?” Cooper’s expression was a little unnatural. ”I thought it would be five thousand or more.”

The stockbroker immediately said, ”It was supposed to be like that, but they plan to sign a bigger contract with the local government, so they have temporarily lowered the dividend.”

”It’s not just the dividend for the freely circulating shares; the dividend for the non-circulating shares has also been lowered. They promise that next year’s profit will double.”

”And do you know what?”

”Your stock is now worth 160,000.”

When he heard this number, Cooper’s breathing became rapid. He turned around and saw his immediate superior sitting in the office, staring at him through the glass window.

Facing that young, yet cold face, the anger that he usually suppressed in his heart began to rage uncontrollably!

He had long wanted to go over and give this idiot a hard punch in the face, and let this idiot know that the reason he could sit in this position was not because he had great ability, or outstanding technology, but merely because he had graduated from a good school, and had a group of board member alumni!

He took a deep breath, suppressed this urge, and turned away from the young man. ”Should I sell this batch of stock now?”

”Sell?”

”No!”

”My advice is to keep it. I have some inside news. They are about to announce some astonishing news soon, which may significantly increase the stock price.”

”Maybe twenty percent, or even thirty percent, based on the current price!”

When he heard this number, Cooper already felt... a kind of thirst.

To rise by another twenty or thirty percent based on the current price, how much money was that?

He was an engineer, a university graduate. Although his math was not the best, it was not bad either.

Soon he had calculated the result: 32,000 to 48,000. Adding the 3,000 dividend, his assets were about to break 200,000!

He had spent the most important twenty years of his life to accumulate a deposit of 100,000.

But now he had only spent two or three months to double his twenty years of savings.

This was the charm of finance!

His body trembled slightly. ”What should I do now?”

The stockbroker, hearing his trembling voice, was not surprised. Many people were like this when they heard they had made a lot of money. Of course, the stockbroker was also happy. This meant that he would have a better reputation, more clients, and would earn more service fees from the transactions.

”My advice is, if you still have money, you should definitely enter the market.”

”I am absolutely not exaggerating. I have already mortgaged my house and bought all of this stock.”

”I have a premonition, Mr. Cooper, that we will strike it rich!”

His words made Cooper’s heart beat even faster. He walked back and forth a few steps. ”You’re right. We will strike it rich!”

The young man in the office saw the elated expression on Cooper’s face. He frowned.

Recently, many people in the workshop had been talking ill of him behind his back. Some of the talk he could still accept, for example, some said that he had a relationship with the company’s high-level executives, and that he had overcome Cooper and become the workshop supervisor through their recommendation.

But there were also some rumors he couldn’t accept. They were actually saying that he had been anally raped to get this position, and that he didn’t know anything, and couldn’t do anything.

He didn’t know where these rumors had come from, or who had started them, but he knew that the root of everything lay with Cooper, this engineer.

They felt that he was the one who was suitable to sit in the office, not him, a young man who had little work experience in the industry, and was not an expert scholar in academic theory.

He didn’t say it, and didn’t show it on his face, but in his heart, he was very dissatisfied with Cooper, because Cooper was the most suspicious.

He had been looking for an opportunity to embarrass Cooper, but he could never find one.

Cooper had been working here for more than ten years. He was too familiar with everything here, so the possibility of him making a mistake was very low.

His job was not to create mistakes, but to repair them.

Seeing Cooper happy, he became unhappy.

After Cooper hung up the phone, he took the initiative to walk to the door, pushed it open, and signaled for Cooper to come in.

After he had entered, the supervisor completely closed the blinds. He closed the door and walked to the chair behind his desk and sat down. ”A call from your family?”

Cooper sat opposite him and shook his head.

He had no intention of sharing the joy of making money with this annoying supervisor. ”No, it wasn’t.”

The supervisor nodded slightly, a very small nod. ”You know, the production work in our workshop is very heavy, and the entire department is also very important to the company.”

”When I went to the head office for a meeting a few days ago, they mentioned that we should focus more on work, and not on other things.”

”Although they didn’t clearly state anything, I just know that they are very dissatisfied with some of the lax work attitudes.”

”I won’t talk about you this time, but I hope you don’t bring your private matters into your work.”

”It’s like this one phone call. If it causes defective products because you answered the phone, can you be responsible?”

Cooper stared at him, his gaze unfriendly. ”What do you want to say?”

The young supervisor smiled and shook his head. ”No, I don’t mean anything else. I’m just reminding you that this is the workshop, this is the workplace.”

”This is not the living room of your house, where you can just stand there with a phone doing your private business when you have nothing to do.”

”This is the last time.”

”If there is a next time, I will report it to the higher-ups and give you a certain punishment.”

If it had been before, Cooper would have silently endured it, for example, apologizing to him, and saying that he would never do this again.

In fact, he was very clear about what this young supervisor wanted. He wanted his submission, or to cause a scene with him.

The former represented obedience, being dominated, and no threat.

The latter meant that he had a way to kick Cooper out of here.

He had not dared to be reckless before because he didn’t know what the future would hold, but now, he knew.

He would have a cash asset of over 200,000, or even more. His money would continuously increase with the continuously rising market trend, increasing to a level that was unimaginable for him.

He had endured for so many years. At this moment, the moment he had more wealth, he didn’t want to endure anymore.

He suddenly stood up. The young supervisor hadn’t reacted yet. Cooper pointed at his nose and said, ”Don’t fucking think that just because you sold your ass to climb over my head, I have to look at your face!”

”You are nothing. You are just a scoundrel!”

”A scoundrel, understand?”

”Anyone here, even just a worker, is more upright and clean than you. Just looking at you makes me feel disgusted!”

”Was it the same when they were raping your ass?”

The young supervisor was so angry that he couldn’t react. After two seconds, he screamed and slammed the table as he stood up. ”Fuck! Are you crazy?”

Since Cooper had decided not to endure it, he would not continue to put up with it. ”Am I crazy?”

”You are the crazy son of a bitch! You have been looking for trouble with me ever since you got here. Do you think I don’t know what you want?”

”You are trash, understand?”

”No one here respects you. You are not even as good as those bitches on the street.”

”Those bitches will tell you how much they are worth, and you, you only pretend!”

The young supervisor was already furious. He directly pointed at the door of his office and roared, ”Get out! Get out of my office! I will report what you said and did to the company. You are suspended now!”

Cooper directly took off his work badge and slammed it on the desk. He looked seriously at the supervisor. ”I’m fucking quitting!”

He then pulled open the door and walked out, not forgetting to turn around and give him the middle finger.

The argument in the room had already alarmed some of the people outside. Cooper had many good friends. Those who could leave their posts immediately gathered around, asking him what had happened, and whether he needed any help.

He was very touched by the concern of these good friends. He said that he didn’t need any help. He just decided to change his lifestyle!

A kind of idealistic, free life, where everything could be done according to his heart!