Armor: After finding the Demon-Sealing Box, I won't eat beef.

"You even know the password? You weren't the one who hid it, were you?"

Lin Zhen looked at the evil tree in surprise.

Emu explained calmly, "This is embezzled money from a senior executive of a listed company."

I hacked into his brain; I know all its secrets.

"oh!"

Lin Zhen's eyes lit up.

He really didn't know that the Shadow Guardians also had the ability to invade memories; this was never mentioned in the original work.

The evil tree reported a string of numbers.

Lin Zhen rotated the cipher disc in sequence.

A soft "click" sounded.

The safe door popped open.

"Holy crap!"

The sight inside made Lin Zhen swear.

Neatly stacked bundles of brand-new 100-yuan bills, their bright red color dazzling.

A quick glance suggests it's worth at least two million.

Inside the interlayer lay rows of gleaming gold bars, stamped with the number 999.9.

I picked one up at random and weighed it in my hand. It was heavy, and I estimated it to weigh around ten pounds.

However, gold prices haven't risen yet these days.

Lin Zhen had already confirmed that this world had been improved by the addition of armor and mutant beasts.

The rest of the historical process was almost exactly the same as in his original world. Gold has only recently been officially priced, and it costs only eighty or ninety yuan per gram, definitely not exceeding one hundred.

Ten pounds of gold would be worth more than two million in later generations, but in 1994, it was only worth a little over five hundred thousand.

Of course, this is already an astronomical figure.

You should know that nowadays, ordinary factory workers can only earn three or four hundred yuan a month even if they work themselves to the bone.

"How's it going? Is this enough?" Evil Earth asked, his eyes wide as he looked at Lin Zhen.

Lin Zhen was brought back to his senses by its words.

It's the first time I've ever seen so much cash; it would be a lie to say I wasn't excited.

He feigned a cough to suppress the turmoil in his heart, and turned to look at the five protectors.

He said in a deep voice, "This amount of money is far from enough."

"For ordinary people, this is indeed a huge sum of money."

But for what we're doing, it's not even a drop in the ocean.

Evilwood's face showed a disdainful expression: "I think you're just trying to use us to make money for yourself, aren't you?"

"Exactly!" Evilfire immediately chimed in.

Lin Zhen was too lazy to argue with them and simply raised his eyes: "Stop talking nonsense, just tell me if you'll help or not."

Evil Gold glanced calmly at the other four guardians and gently shook his head.

The meaning is obvious—

Since we've already placed a heavy bet on this kid, we can only keep gambling.

Besides, people with desires are easier to control.

A greedy person is always easier to manipulate than a person without desires.

And so.

In the days that followed, the five Shadow Guardians embarked on a frenzied "Rob the Rich and Help the Poor" spree.

Countless corrupt officials and unscrupulous business owners who have embezzled their entire lives.

I woke up to find that the money I had hidden so carefully had vanished.

They cried and wailed, but couldn't find a single clue.

Lin Zhen has memories of two lifetimes, although he was an ordinary person in his previous life.

But the rules of this world were just too kind to him.

In the original world, a person who only has money but no background will eventually be devoured, leaving nothing but bones, in the business world.

But this world is different; the presence of power is infinitely weakened.

With enough money, there's almost nothing you can't accomplish.

After making their first fortune.

Lin Zhen immediately moved into the best five-star hotel in D City.

He ate delicacies every day, quickly making up for the health problems he had suffered over the past seventeen years.

What surprised him even more was that as his health improved, the mysterious energy within him was also growing rapidly.

Previously, it would only automatically unleash its power when one was physically exhausted.

Now he can slowly guide the flow of this energy with his mind.

On my eighteenth birthday.

Lin Zhen bought himself a birthday present—

A brand new BMW 740i costs a whopping 1.5 million yuan.

On that very day, the Shadow Protector had already helped him recover a total of 3 billion in embezzled funds.

With the money, Lin Zhen officially registered his own company – Riyin Company.

He takes on everything from high-tech research and development to daily necessities processing plants, and even the waste recycling industry that others look down on.

Without the constraints of complex power structures, Lin Zhen relied on the power of capital to sweep across the land.

In just one year, Riyin Company transformed from an unknown small company into the most sought-after emerging giant in D City, and officially changed its name to Riyin Group.

It holds controlling stakes in two large research institutes and has recruited over 30,000 talents of various kinds.

In addition, there are mobile phones, clothing, daily necessities, food, logistics...

Japanese music can be seen in all walks of life.

Almost overnight, Japanese music monopolized the daily lives of all the residents of D City.

Those established local capital firms could only barely survive under the rampant expansion of Japanese music.

The vast majority were bought up at low prices, and the few that resisted simply disappeared from the market.

When you encounter a tough nut to crack.

Lin Zhen didn't even need to lift a finger; the Shadow Protector would quietly resolve everything.

With business acumen that is 20 years ahead of its time, plus the protection of the Shadow Guardians in the shadows.

In just three years.

The Riyin Group thus became the uncrowned king of D City.

1997 年。

Lin Zhen was twenty years old that year.

The Nippon Group already holds controlling stakes in a total of 88 companies.

From clothing, food, housing, and transportation to birth, aging, illness, and death, the Riyin Group has achieved comprehensive coverage of the lives of citizens in City D.

Vertical integration across the entire value chain.

The capital market in D City underwent a reshuffling at an unprecedented speed.

All the companies acquired by Nikkei not only survived, but thrived even more than before.

Those who dared to confront Riyin head-on were completely wiped out overnight, without even making a ripple.

In City D.

All domestic capital had no choice but to submit and beg for scraps from the teeth of the Japanese music group.

of course.

Even having achieved this scale, the Nikko Group has never had any plans to go public.

Therefore, external valuations of Riyin range from 800 billion to 2 trillion, and no one can say for sure how much money Lin Zhen actually has.

Also in that year, Lin Zhen registered an investment company called "Shadow Capital" in his own name.

They began to expand quietly into surrounding cities, laying the groundwork for their future nationwide expansion.

……

The second half of 1997.

The headquarters building of the Riyin Group.

Lin Zhen directly bought the best skyscraper in the city center of D City and renamed it Riyin Building.

The entire top floor of the building is Lin Zhen's private space.

It has everything you can imagine: a top-notch home theater, a private bar filled with fine wines from around the world, a professional-grade fitness area, and a presidential suite comparable to a seven-star hotel.

He even built a detached villa on the rooftop terrace.

The villa is surrounded by white sand beaches air-freighted from Hainan, and next to it is an infinity pool.

In front of these private areas is Lin Zhen's office area.

The office has huge floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, offering a panoramic view of the bustling city of D.

Lin Zhen was sitting in a large boss's chair reviewing documents when the internal phone on his desk suddenly rang.

It's a doorbell.

"Enter."

The heavy solid wood door slowly opened.

A man in a suit walked in. He had the latest trend of long hair, with bangs that covered half of one eye. He had a roguish air about him, an arrogant look in his eyes, and the fierceness of a street thug, which seemed completely out of place with his sharp suit.

The man walked to the desk, bowed slightly, and behaved respectfully.

"Chairman Lin, I've found the person you're looking for."

After saying that, he unconsciously sniffed and couldn't help but complain.

"However, there's something I've never understood."

With your current strength, you have two top-tier research institutes and more than 30,000 top scientists.

What kind of talent can't we find?

Why did you have to go after that useless PhD that everyone else rejected?