He was a bit disappointed that they wouldn’t provide any assistance in case of an attack . But he had a feeling the System put various restrictions on those who worked for it . Abby wasn’t allowed to explain certain things , and Rahm told him they were only allowed to build pre-approved ships . It meant that the golems likely weren’t even allowed to provide assistance outside doing their jobs . Otherwise Zac believed that the crazy foreman wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to blow up hordes of monsters , even if it was just for fun .
He arrived back at the camper and once again opened up the Town Shop . It was time to start the improvements . First he bought an F-Grade Middle Scale Cosmic Smelting Furnace] for 200 000 Nexus Coins , leaving him with a scant 20 000 Nexus Coins . Luckily the shops only cost a symbolic sum , as they made their money through trade .
The purpose of the furnace was to refine various F-graded metals and minerals , and Nexus Crystals were one of the things it could refine . It was an expensive purchase but Ogras had promised it would be far more profitable to refine the materials by himself before he sold them , as every shop would try to scam him on rates when he sold raw crystals .
It was a large black box roughly two meters tall and three meters wide . On one side it had a chute for throwing in the raw materials , and on the other , it had a hole leading out to a large tray . He immediately summoned a sack of crystals and threw the contents into the chute , and contentedly watched his wealth grow . It took roughly 10 minutes for the whole sack to be processed into crystals , and when they came out they looked identical to the ones he had stolen long ago . Gone were any defects or rock remains , leaving only unblemished uniform crystals .
Next , he needed someone to buy his products .
Chapter 72 - Thayer Consortia
Calrin despondently surveyed the various reports strewn about his table . Twenty thousand years of heritage teetered on the brink of destruction , all under his watch . He knew that he was partly to blame for the situation , but others were far more culpable .
’Greed is the fuel which push us forward . Honor is the compass which keeps the course . ’
That was the creed inlaid under the painting of his ancestor , hung behind him in an ornate frame . He didn’t need to turn around to know the words , or to remember every single detail of their ancestor’s face . The slight upward tug of his mouth , the ever-present Ancient Empire coin in his hand , ceaselessly whirling between his fingers . The mischievous light in his eyes that seemed to see through all lies and posturing .
Almarillo Thayer was born a beggar in a lowly E-graded word on decline . He had no family , no education , and no prospects , but through his intellect and drive he managed to become an assistant to a shop-clerk . From there he gained the Assistant class , the first step which ended with him founding the Thayer Consortia] , a System-sanctioned mercantile corporation with branches in hundreds of worlds , and its headquarters located on a bustling C-Ranked continent .
Those awe-inspiring offices were long pawned off , even before Calrin Thayer was born . For the last five hundred years , the company had been in a steady decline . Calrin , with his quick wits and solid business acumen , was chosen to steer the company back on course and was given the chairman position at the young age of 80 . But all he accomplished was the reduction of branches from 26 to one last struggling location .
He knew the cause wasn’t only himself . His family remembered the first half of their founder’s creed perfectly well , but the second half had gotten blurred over the years . Shady and short-sighted business practices made them lose a few branches and simultaneously made them quite a few enemies . A few family members even betrayed the Thayer name for personal wealth , and even if they were eventually found out the damage was already done .
But the downfall started for real roughly 25 years ago . The great Tsarun Clan had turned their avaricious gazes toward the Thayer Consortia . Or rather , at the Mercantile License their founder gained all those years ago . The license was something awarded by the system , and not something that could be forced away or stolen . Even eradicating the whole Thayer family wouldn’t do any good , and would even result in a punishment by the System .
But a business license could be seized through business . Normally it should be almost impossible to snatch a license from a sanctioned corporation , and it would be far easier to try to gain one through normal means . But between the Thayer Consortia being in tatters and the Tsarun Clan’s vast connections and wealth , they actually managed to incrementally bring down their corporation , one world at a time .
