Transcendent Dawn - Chapter 361:
Chapter 361: Chapter 0361: Press Conference (4000 added, request for monthly pass)
White Eagle City.
As the capital of the Federation, the most famous landmark here is the Emperor’s Building, towering over three hundred meters high.
It is located in the financial center of White Eagle City, adjacent to the Federation Securities Exchange and the Federation Bank headquarters, symbolizing the rise of the new continent.
Inside the Securities Exchange.
Andrew, specifically dressed in formal attire, stands amidst the crowd, excitedly rooting for Orchi.
In his heart, there is not the slightest remorse about abandoning William and siding with Spa Tutor.
After all, that old man William is rigid and harsh, and had put him through great difficulties in the past.
By contrast, Orchi and Spa showed a lot more goodwill.
‘Besides, Spa Tutor’s position in the Electrotechnic Sect is much higher than William’s, I made the right choice.’
As time passed, Andrew matured: “Perhaps…this is the choice of an adult? As for Su Lu…heh heh… ”
In his view, Su Lu, who has offended the Francis Consortium, is as useful as a dead man.
But Orchi is different!
This uppity person, born in the Inner Circle of the Green Tree Castle and the heir to the Francis Consortium, has achieved one success after another.
Once the telegram company goes public, he may instantly become one of the richest men in the Federation with strong influence!
And he is a student of Spa Tutor, my senior!
How could I not cling tightly to such a powerful ally?
So, even if he was warned and reprimanded by William, he left matters of the Electrotechnic Research Institute behind and came to White Eagle City – after all, he now belongs to the Inner Circle, and will soon be a disciple of Spa Tutor, and William no longer has jurisdiction over him.
Applause!
In the hall filled with flowers and champagne, accompanied by a round of warm applause, a dignified Orchi, arm-in-arm with a lady, calmly walked into the venue.
Many photographers with cameras immediately knelt on the ground, continuously capturing memorable photos with their flashing lights.
“The Mayor of White Eagle City is already here, so are many members of Congress, and numerous representatives of financial magnates, along with numerous merchants, journalists… ”
Andrew’s face was filled with envy: “The listing will definitely be a great success.”
In the surging crowd, he tried hard to squeeze past, letting Orchi remember his face.
With great effort, he made his way towards Orchi amidst the disgruntled crowd: “Congratulations! Sir…”
“Thank you!”
Orchi responded politely and appropriately, but his drifting gaze indicated his attention was elsewhere.
Soon enough, Andrew was pushed away by another securities dealer, but he didn’t mind, recalling Orchi’s smile and feeling a great thrill.
“Ladies and gentlemen…”
Orchi strode up to the podium, having ‘struggled’ his way across the red carpet. He cleared his throat: “I am honored to be here, I believe…the returns from the Telegraph Company will far exceed your expectations, this is a really profitable deal, with annual dividends…”
Even as he roused himself to continue with his passionate speech, Andrew detected a disturbance near the entrance of the hall.
A few men who looked like wealthy businessmen were whispering to each other and then hurriedly made their way out of the venue.
“What’s going on?”
Showing his master’s spirit, Andrew prepared to step forward and help maintain order.
He only took a few steps when he saw, to his surprise, that the commotion seemed contagious, and one after another, the wealthy and journalists looked incredulous before they raced out.
From the commotion, Andrew caught random words such as ‘wireless’, ‘telegram’, ‘press conference’, ‘stop-loss’, all of which gave him an ominous feeling.
Onstage, Orchi faltered for a brief moment.
Immediately following this, a bodyguard dressed in a black suit made his way towards Orchi and whispered something in his ear.
“What?”
Orchi forgot he was still making a speech, and his surprised voice echoed throughout the hall.
But he didn’t care about that anymore.
This recently most famous tycoon of the Federation, suddenly went pale and left the podium without bothering to take his female companion with him, stumbling towards the exit of the hall.
‘Something big must have happened!’
Andrew felt a cold sweat on his forehead. He blended into the crowd and made his way outside.
Not far away, the Emperor’s Building stood tall, and a press conference was being held in the square.
“Ladies and gentlemen… let me introduce to you a more mature technology… wireless telegraphy! You all know the principle of the telegraph… but wireless telegraphy swaps out the medium transmitting the information, from wired to the ubiquitous air!”
A host was fidgeting with the wireless telegraph station in front of him, smirking: “This is a groundbreaking advance! We don’t need to lay telegraph lines, just a good antenna and transceiver…this technology is fully mature, patented, and a company has been registered…. It’s not necessary for me to say what this implies.”
Not needing to lay telegraph lines meant saving a considerable amount of expense and not needing to constantly dispatch people for repair and maintenance!
That would save a significant amount of funds!
If wired telegraphs require a substantial initial investment, the input for wireless telegraphs is minimal. The investment compared to the potential profit is practically negligible!
Hence, they could employ a brutal price war to crush the costly wired telegraph.
Especially now!
You should know, Orchi’s Wired Telegraph Company just completed the nationwide telegraph network deployment, investing a vast amount of silver dollars, even borrowing a large sum from the bank.
Originally, the bank’s risk controllers thought with the monopoly and profitability of the telegraph, there was no need to worry at all.
But what about now?
With the advent of wireless telegraphy, wired telegraphs are most likely to go bankrupt!
That was the consensus of everyone present!
“I don’t believe it!”
Orchi, with red eyes, tore open his collar and shouted: “I am from the Green Tree Castle laboratory. The technology you’re talking about is impossible. It’s a scam! A shocking fraud!”
He didn’t even dare to imagine what would happen if wireless telegraphy were real.
That would mean not only would he go bankrupt, but he would also face a horrifying ending!
After all, not only the Francis Financial Consortium invested extensively in the Wired Telegraph Company, but he also, convinced of this technology, invested a mammoth amount of funds in it, even selling off all his assets and borrowing heavily!
Don’t think that just because you’re a Transcendent, you could default on some major forces!
The tens of millions of silver dollars involved could get master-level Occupationals killed many times over.
Unless he was a Fifth order legendary professional, or else, in this kind of situation, death would be certain.
“Oh, it’s Mr. Orchi from the Wired Telegraph Company…”
The host revealed a devilish smile: “But…it has been successful. Just now, in front of all of you journalists, I have brought over Green Tree Castle City’s news of today, compared with your wired telegraph, there’s not a single discrepancy…and I also invited some volunteers to try it out!”
The so-called ‘try it out’ was naturally to send telegraphs from a distance using both the wired and wireless telegraph, and check if they were consistent.
“Impossible…impossible…”
Andrew saw Orchi, who looked like a clown whose bones had been sucked out and was about to collapse there.
“And furthermore…” the host continued, “the provider of this technology is the inventor of the wired telegraph – Mr. Su Lu Pottery. Let’s thank him for the changes he has brought to the world!”
Applause resounded, which to Andrew’s ears, was extremely grating.
“Su Lu Pottery…it’s him?”
Andrew thinking of his own expression when he was about to meet Su Lu again, and the betrayal and sell-out afterwards, also collapsed on the ground: “No…how could this be?”
