Eh? You want to try the humanoid girl's iron fist too?

“Commander, Dr. Pascal.”

"What was discovered?"

The puppet "Raphael" regained its luster in its dull eyes.

In the dim light, the bionic face looked exceptionally real, with only the occasional flicker of light in its pupils revealing its mechanical nature.

"The documents confirm at least one German."

"who."

"The former major of the West German Federal Armed Forces Rapid Reaction Division, named Nicholas Becker, was an airborne soldier. His personality assessment when he joined the KSK was: calm, rational and energetic."

As he spoke, HK416 printed out the photos that had been sent with the email.

His short, gray-gold hair was neatly trimmed, his blue eyes were clear and sharp, and his cheekbones were slightly prominent, giving him a strong and resolute air.

He was tall and slender with broad shoulders, and his military uniform fit him perfectly, neither making him look bulky nor out of proportion.

In the photo, he is standing at a training ground, with blurry armored vehicles and tents in the background.

"He died two days ago, riddled with bullets by MK.48's branding weapon."

"Oh?"

"Six years ago, he left the People's Army as a lieutenant colonel, but almost immediately afterward, the scandals of 'torture of prisoners of war' and 'massacre' broke out," HK416 said. "It caused a huge uproar at the time, but in the end, nothing came of it, and there were no substantial investigation results."

How was he identified as the whistleblower at the time?

"The report from the investigation team at the time clearly identified him as the culprit."

“The timing is a bit of a coincidence,” Raphael shook his head. “It’s doomed to fail for a retired lieutenant colonel to step forward as a target. Their encouragement of this person is actually malicious.”

She didn't care whether the scandals were true or false; they were just rubbish from wartime.

"'who are they."

Pascal chimed in, his voice hoarse, as if he hadn't yet recovered from his earlier exhaustion. He picked up the coffee cup on the table, took a sip, and frowned; it wasn't his preferred style.

"In the final stages of the war, certain forces in the political and intelligence circles did indeed have a lot of things to do, and they needed to do everything they could to prove that no prisoners of war had been mistreated. If the truth were to be exposed, the careers of these powerful figures would be ruined. Becker was just a pawn, pushed out to take the fall."

What became of the prisoners of war?

Raphael shrugged and spread his hands. "I boarded a retreating warship before the war ended, so... what about the post-war documents?"

“There’s no definitive conclusion,” HK416 began, “but in his last communication with his informant before his death, Nicholas Becker mentioned that some prisoners of war were executed. A few weeks later, the informant was found with his throat slit in his car outside Moscow.”

"later?"

"Recording interrupted here."

"It's a mess," Raphael said, seemingly unfazed. "Where's the others?"

“The only special person is Becker. The others either know something about the situation or are simply expendable,” HK416 said. “Besides, in your circle, only the Doctor had an accident.”

"Is this the end of it?"

"What do you mean 'this is the end'?"

Pascal got up, his hair a mess, looking like he hadn't slept enough.

"It doesn't end here."

Raphael abandoned the death list and analysis report, got up and walked to the whiteboard, circling the top names on the relationship tree with a pen.

"Why not just go find him directly? The guy being protected by Frankfurt won't die anytime soon, at least not anytime soon."

How much was he involved in those things?

"His asset growth rate far exceeds that of his peers, and wasn't the initial goal to cut off his outstretched tentacles?"

"Perhaps it's just that they are capable."

"No need to guess, the existence of the dirtiest deals in history, involving prostitution, gambling, drugs, money laundering, human and organ trafficking, cannot possibly be without protection," Raphael said with certainty.

How do we find him?

"There are always people who know what he looks like, his preferences, and his location. The reason we can't find him now is simply because we haven't found the right person. However, there's something else we need to discuss."

"what?"

"money."

……

"bank?"

“No, banks are just custodians,” Raphael said. “Many times, whatever they do, it all ends up in the form of money, or wealth, because the real power is hidden there.”

“Tell me about it,” Pascal said.

"There are three main ways to accumulate enough wealth to control real power. These people don't care about the nice house in the head of state's residence. What they are interested in is control—complete control."

“It sounds familiar,” Pascal said.

"The first path is the industrial sector: controlling a certain industry or commodity, such as shipping, food, alcohol, seafood, oil, natural gas, gold, silver, rare earth minerals, chips, pharmaceuticals... anything you can think of."

These industries are mostly controlled by a few tightly-knit private companies. Take the Koch family as an example; they still control the petrochemical, energy, and agricultural sectors in the United States, and also control the production volume of neural network chips, artificially inflating prices.

They control the supply side, thereby artificially establishing and supporting the value of this market, using methods similar to OPEC's past manipulation of oil prices by controlling global supply.

The methods for exerting a huge influence are identical. This applies to all industries.

Raphael looked at Pascal and HK416 with a familiar expression, and then gave a real-life example.

In recent years, some small but rapidly growing companies have emerged in the market and have begun to dominate the fresh fish market, impacting the leading companies in the French food industry. In response, these large companies have directly acquired them.

Raphael snapped his fingers.

"Bang! The competition is gone. If a small company refuses to sell, a large, well-resourced company will squeeze its survival space by influencing the supply chain or simply lowering prices—usually by cutting off distribution and logistics."

This is more organized and integrated than the Mafia or gangs, and in most cases, it is impossible to cause them any trouble on a legal level.

Coca-Cola Germany does the same. They monitor industry trends and acquire or cut off the distribution channels of other beverage companies once they emerge.

If you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. When was the last time the vending machines in the 16LAB office building sold both Fanta and Pepsi at the same time?

Impossible.

They divide the market in this way, while beverage brands that aren't acquired are forced to compete for distribution through online channels—yet another form of control. But what if online channels are also being affected?

The key point is that unless you're in the inner circle, success will inevitably lead to suppression.

"What about the other two paths?"

"The second path is through private capital, such as hedge funds, private equity, and venture capital, but most people cannot afford the amount of capital required to generate huge returns."

These clandestine funds employ a large number of analysts and forecasters, including geniuses with autistic tendencies whose digital thinking surpasses even that of artificial intelligence.

On a side note, this is also where humans excel over artificial intelligence—in creativity and the ability to unlock potential.

They invested millions in ten companies—eight failed, but the remaining two will become the next Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Tesla, or one of dozens of other companies that achieve a thousandfold return on their initial investment.

The eight losers caused a loss of eight million, while the twenty percent winners brought in a profit of over one billion.

They can invest in ways that ordinary people cannot, continuously accumulate wealth and compound their billions in returns, thus continuing to bet on ten companies while losing money on eight.

However, identity within the inner circle is equally crucial—it's the prerequisite for obtaining the best intelligence and, more importantly, for gaining priority access to the two ultimate winners.

“I never believe that humans are inferior to artificial intelligence in terms of intelligence and creativity, even if the foundation of that AI comes from humans,” Pascal said defiantly.

Raphael ignored Pascal's protests: "The third way is through targeted speculation that manipulates the market."

"Please consider my background of not having taken any financial mathematics courses and explain it simply."

"How do you preserve the value of your assets?" Raphael countered.

"Why preserve value? By continuously creating new value and injecting new resources into the original asset pool, the value will increase."

That makes a lot of sense.

Ignoring Pascal's powerful remarks, Raphael continued, "..."

"By investing in futures, options, or swap contracts, one can bet on the future, the value of which is linked to the underlying asset and can be traded like stocks and bonds. But the key point is that the value of derivatives is settled at a predetermined amount on a future date—hence the term 'speculation'."

Legitimate businesses often use such financial instruments to hedge risks, similar to insurance. However, they can also be used for 'risk-taking,' that is, to speculate and seek high returns if the future is correctly predicted, which is where things get interesting.

By setting a trading price and a future date, these derivatives protect holders of the underlying asset from market volatility. However, if one can predict the future, it's possible to maximize profits and defeat opponents without holding the underlying asset.

Pascal glanced at HK416, who shrugged. Her main job was infiltrating various places, then killing or taking something, not dabbling in the financial world.

“I think I should emphasize that I have not taken any finance courses,” Pascal said.

"In other words, as an investor, you invest in futures or options, but you have influence or control over the outcome. Futures and options allow you to buy or sell large quantities of stocks or commodities at a specified price on a future date. Most investors use them to hedge against market volatility; they are essentially insurance."

Raphael took a breath, took a small sip of coffee, and said:

"But some investors use it for speculation, which is essentially betting heavily on the outcome. If you dare to bet, you can make huge profits with only a small amount of capital. It's like betting $1,000 on a bad horse with odds of 200:1 at a racetrack."

Nobody expected it to win, but an upset would be incredibly rewarding. Suppose you knew before the race that these inferior horses would pull off an upset, what would you do? Clearly, information and knowledge are extremely valuable, and if you could manipulate the outcome, they would be priceless.

"We can't even predict the weather."

“The key is not prediction,” Raphael said. “There are too many examples to refer to. The most classic case is undoubtedly the Third Russo-Ukrainian War twenty-five years ago.”

"Wasn't the Russian Federation at a great disadvantage at the time? Its overseas assets were divided up, blocked and embargoed, and even the Nord Stream pipeline project was blown up."

"Part of it is a loss, and the other part is politicians' rhetoric, just like the nonsense Washington used back then. The real result is a disruption of energy supplies to Europe, and scarcity leads to rising prices. Meanwhile, the value of Russia's inventory has skyrocketed, but it is in a predicament where it cannot be sold."

"I understand the logic, but there has to be a buyer, right? How can we buy them under sanctions?"

"Because that inventory was bought in advance..."

"Futures cashing out?"

"In essence, the buyer demanded early payment, and then the company became the most profitable petrochemical company in those years."

"In other words, the Russian side signed futures contracts with the buyers in advance. These buyers snapped up petrochemical products in order to prevent them from being purchased at higher prices in the future."

HK416 understood Raphael's meaning after comparing it with pre-existing financial information in his mind.

“There are always ways to circumvent sanctions and sell commodities, especially oil and gas. It’s a very clever tactic that allows sellers to avoid risks.”

"So the net benefit is billions of dollars in military spending, while also benefiting a small number of oligarchs."

“That’s right,” Raphael concluded. “There’s another issue: the ‘black swan,’ a term you should have heard of.”

"It refers to an unexpected and rare event that changes the course of history."