Chapter 80: Testing the Futures Market
"Thank you, Brian. Rest assured, I'll be careful these next few days and avoid crowded places. I'll arrange my own itinerary. After I'm finished in Zurich, I'll start dealing with Jeterfrobi. His days are numbered," William said confidently.
Brian Mills had heard of Jeterfrobi. He was surprised by William's confidence, claiming he could eliminate a major warlord who had been fighting for over a decade. Jeterfrobi had thousands of men under his command, battle-hardened veterans of twenty years. They were not an easy group to deal with, and it certainly wouldn't be as simple as William made it sound.
William saw the doubt in Brian Mills's eyes but didn't explain further. He had spent hundreds of millions of dollars building his resources; he didn't need Brian's belief to succeed.
Besides, William knew that a man like Brian, with decades in the special services, would have an excellent intelligence network. It probably wouldn't be long before Brian Mills found out what William had done in Montenegro.
William had no intention of concealing what he did in Montenegro. What he wanted was deterrence. The news that he had single-handedly killed 42 mercenaries armed with AKs in under ten minutes was bound to spread.
William figured that after this, no small-time thugs would dare to come after him. This wasn't a movie; he wasn't immune to bullets from an AK. He knew he couldn't have killed so many people in a straightforward firefight.
William had been cunning. He had used his scanning ability, sneak attacks, ambushes, counter-attacks, stun grenades, explosives, and long-range sniping. Very little of it was a direct, head-on fight.
He wasn't an idiot; he knew he could be killed by gunfire like anyone else. But his mental scanning ability gave him an overwhelming advantage. In urban combat at ranges of tens of meters, he was always the attacker, and no one could get the drop on him.
William said, "Barney is in England protecting my mother, so don't worry about her. I'll do my best to hide my whereabouts. Besides, this is the Swiss National Bank, and there's a major security firm's headquarters just 200 meters away. No one would dare to try anything here. Your most important task is to protect Alexander. I can protect myself."
Brian Mills listened to William's claim that he could protect himself. Although he doubted it, he had to accept it for now. If something did happen, Brian resolved to protect William regardless. "Okay, Boss. But we'll need some other equipment. A few handguns aren't enough insurance. I was thinking I could find an acquaintance to buy some M4 carbines."
William waved his hand. "No need. Just tell me what weapons you want. I can get you any common equipment, and it can be delivered by tomorrow."
William's words surprised Brian again. Acquiring that kind of equipment wasn't easy, let alone having it delivered to Switzerland within hours. Brian's assessment of William rose another notch. He could no longer dismiss him as just some rich kid. Barney, from his old team, had said William was a nobleman, but did English nobles still wield this much influence and power?
Brian Mills asked curiously, "Boss, forgive my rudeness, but I'm curious. Do England's nobles really still have this much power? As far as I know, the aristocracy isn't what it used to be."
William rolled his eyes. He knew that many of the world's nobles were struggling, but their situation was still far better than that of the nobles in his previous life. Of course, William wasn't going to explain to Brian Mills that the nobility of this world had hidden their true power within the English government, and that he was part of that hidden influence. "Brian, when you have enough money, what can't you buy? You're former special services; you have your own channels. After a few hundred years, do you really think a family like mine wouldn't have its own?"
"Right, that was a stupid question." Brian Mills slapped his forehead. "Boss, I need five M4s, five M92 sidearms, body armor, and a basic load of ammunition for each."
"No problem. They can be here tonight," William said, pulling out his phone to send a text message to Bond. In the message, along with the items Brian had requested, William added two Glock 17s and a fully-equipped AWP sniper rifle for himself.
He was confident Bond would help him out. The two had gotten along well, and Bond still needed William's good word with the security committee. Otherwise, getting his hands on a multi-million-dollar bonus wouldn't be so easy.
Sure enough, twenty seconds later, a reply came from Bond: "Understood. 5 hours. $150,000. Thank you."
*That bastard,* William thought. Bond was probably making a profit of at least $70,000 on the deal—a bigger markup than the black market. Still, time was of the essence, and having no weapons was not an option. Besides, for William now, it was a small price to pay. He hadn't been building his network for long. Outside of MI6, he didn't know anyone else who could deliver those weapons to Switzerland in a matter of hours.
Just then, Felix Leiter, standing a few meters away, called out, "Mr. Devinshire, the market is about to open."
William walked over to Alexander, who was looking around the trading room with fascination. He put his arm around her waist and said, "Do you understand any of this, darling?"
Alexander playfully swatted his shoulder. "You're terrible, William. You know I don't, but you could at least try to introduce me to what's happening."
William laughed. "Safety first. I don't want any mistakes this time, and I don't want you to worry. You'll understand what I'm doing in a few days."
"Market is open, Mr. Devinshire!" Felix shouted. "The Nasdaq is at 5003 points. Do you want to buy?"
William thought for a moment. He remembered that the Nasdaq had rushed to 5030 the day after breaking 5,000, then fluctuated around that point. On the 7th, it hit the historic high of 5048. Today was the perfect opportunity to test the waters. "Buy. Buy 350 million, 5% margin."
"Understood."
A dozen traders began typing furiously on their computers. Half an hour later, after all the purchases were complete, the Nasdaq had already climbed to 5007 points. It was almost impossible to find anyone else making such a huge bet in such a short time.
After the buying was done, Felix brought a report over to William. "Mr. Devinshire, we've bought 350 million dollars' worth, all at a 5% margin rate. The average purchase price was 5005 points."
William took the printout and glanced at it. "So, in other words, I've bought 5,594 index futures contracts, for a total position of 7 billion dollars?"
"Yes, Mr. Devinshire," Felix confirmed. "The 5% margin rate leverages your funds 20 times. You will earn or lose 1,398,500 dollars for every point the index moves."
Hearing that William had just bought $7 billion in futures and that a single point change meant a profit or loss of nearly $1.4 million, Alexander gasped. She gripped William's arm, her eyes wide with nervousness.
"Don't be nervous," William started to say, but he was interrupted by a trader shouting loudly. "It's at 5010! Up five points!"
William laughed. "See? 5010. That's a quick seven million dollars. I told you not to be nervous. I don't make bets I'm not sure about."
Alexander stared at the large screen on the trading room wall. "But darling, what if it falls? Oh God, this is so nerve-wracking. How can you be so calm? God bless us, please keep going up..."
William just chuckled as he watched Alexander standing beside him, praying to the stock market gods.
---
⭐ $5 Tier – Early Access!
Stay 50 chapters ahead of public releases on RoyalRoad, Webnovel, and Scribble Hub.
Latest available chapter: 132.
Chapters are uploaded as soon as they're completed, so you'll always be ahead of the curve.
By joining, you'll be directly supporting the story while enjoying exclusive early access.
🔗 Patreon link is in My Profile/About.
⚠️ Please select your membership carefully, as I have multiple novels ongoing.
🍎 If you're on Apple, consider subscribing through your browser instead — it's cheaper for you, and I'll receive payments faster.