Stepping into the study, Karen first glanced at Count Rekar embracing the Queen of Wien, deliberately ignored the portrait of the black cat, and finally took a seat behind the desk beneath the portrait of Founder Allen.
Patriarch Bede spread the documents out one by one before Karen and then stepped to the side, standing like a secretary.
Old Anderson sat down opposite Karen, resting both hands on his cane, his gaze humble and gentle.
Mike remained in his wheelchair. Looking at his face made Karen feel rather uncomfortable, as the two red welts left by the crutch were distinctly asymmetrical.
"Young Master Karen, breakfast will be brought up shortly," Bede said.
Karen nodded. Looking at the thick spread of documents before him, he said somewhat helplessly, "Do you have an executive summary of sorts?"
Reading through all these volumes would take ages.
"Yes, I have already prepared one for you." Bede opened the blue folder right in the center and set it in front of Karen.
"All right. Um, please have a seat as well, Mr. Bede."
"No, I prefer standing."
Karen glanced at Bede. Strictly speaking, the position he now occupied ought to have been Bede's. Yet one truly could not find a trace of jealousy or anger in his eyes; instead, there was a sense of… relief.
After misfortune struck his eldest and second brothers in succession, Bede must have truly been forced into the patriarch's seat. For a man who was an artist to his core, that had to have been pure torment.
Karen lowered his head and began examining the document before him.
This was an asset report for the Allen family. Bede had apparently taken into account that Karen was not an industry professional, laying things out for easy reading.
Within York City:
The Allen family held ownership of twelve apartment buildings.
Karen specifically double-checked the wording. Yes, twelve whole buildings—not twelve units, but twelve buildings.
In parentheses afterward were the names of the twelve apartment buildings, along with unit counts and total floor area. Even the smallest building contained over a hundred households.
One had to remember that before he left home, the best arrangement his uncle, aunt, and the others had made for him was merely buying a single apartment, and that required taking out a mortgage.
And this was merely the very top tier of the Allen family's fixed assets. Under normal conventions, the "lightest" assets were placed at the top.
Reading further down:
The Allen family also owned a hotel chain brand, with four hotels in York City alone, several in other major cities across Wien, and even locations in Ruilan.
Aside from Allen Manor, the Allen family owned three large estates within Wien.
At the same time, in Wien's colonies, they held multiple plantations and mines.
This was a family with literal gold mines.
The investment list was short, but the reason it was placed at the very bottom was because the returns and equity of these three investments were immense.
First was shares in the Bank of Wien.
Second was shares in the Wien Overseas Assistance and Construction Company—a chartered colonial enterprise with over two centuries of history, initiated by the Wien royal family.
From a revenue perspective, the third investment could not compare to the first two at all; in fact, it yielded zero income for the Allen family.
That was because it was an equity division of the Wien royal palace's assets, detailed down to which specific jewels on the queen's hereditary crown belonged to the Allen family.
Thus, when Madam Jenny and Mike's wife, Madam Lisa, took the younger female kin to the royal palace to take afternoon tea with the Queen, it truly wasn't dropping in as ordinary guests; in a strict sense, the palace was their home as well.
This was glory.
Karen directed his gaze toward the portrait of Count Rekar hanging on the study wall. It had likely been during that era when the bond between the Allen family and the Wien royal house was firmly established.
It was clear that the Allen family's industries and investments were exceptionally conservative.
Yet… how should one put it? If you had access to investment channels like these, you probably wouldn't want to take risks either, because there was simply no need. The Allen family lived off foundational shares.
Karen did not foolishly ask how a family this wealthy could possibly be in decline.
After all, he had personally watched Mr. Morf puff himself to death right in front of his eyes.
The Morf Syndicate was influential in Rojia City and even throughout the entirety of Ruilan, yet its head was nothing before Diss.
Secular wealth was important;
Yet in that other sphere, secular wealth seemed fragile and thin.
Most importantly, the reason the Allen family had acquired this secular wealth in the first place was that their ancestors had never belonged purely to the secular circle. Pirates commanding the open seas, whose flagship was an enormous sea monster!
Therefore, once your strength waned, even if you managed to retain this wealth, not much meaning remained.
The enemies targeting you were not eyeing your fortune; they were eyeing your bloodline.
In such circumstances, you wouldn't even have the luxury of spending your way out of disaster.
Even so,
after seeing such an enormous family fortune,
Karen felt quite pleased.
Having just moved into Allen Manor and enjoyed the living standards of top-tier nobility for half a day, he certainly didn't want to watch his material life deteriorate into pawning family heirlooms next.
Barring any accidents,
the Allen family could likely still sip expensive red wine the day before their true ruin, while ordering maids to cast fine new carpets into the boiler room simply because they disliked the color.
Even if they had to enter the pigsty tomorrow, today they would still live like rulers of men!
Fair enough. Quite elegant.
Karen even found the image rather picturesque.
Fortunately, Purr was still upstairs taking a morning nap in the bedroom. Had she seen Karen's subtle expression, her fur would have bristled with rage on the spot.
"This is the second folder." Bede opened another file.
Karen took it, and as he looked down, his brows knitted involuntarily.
Because he couldn't quite understand what was written on it.
First were three workshops:
A fish-scale ornament workshop;
A turtle-shell pendant workshop;
A black coral powder workshop.
Were these cheap knickknacks?
Obviously not.
Look at how grand the previous asset ledger was; this page couldn't possibly fall off a cliff so abruptly.
Besides, corresponding to secular wealth ought to be the "wealth" of that other circle.
Karen asked, "Are these church materials?"
"Yes, Young Master Karen," Bede replied.
Karen looked at the revenue listed after each workshop. It wasn't in riels, nor in lubi, but in "coupons."
The fish-scale ornament workshop brought in quarterly revenue of eight thousand Abyss coupons;
The turtle-shell pendant workshop brought in quarterly revenue of five thousand Principle coupons;
The black coral powder workshop brought in quarterly revenue of ten thousand Order coupons.
Karen felt an urge to ask a question that might make the three Allen family men present think he was an idiot.
After a brief hesitation,
he asked it anyway:
"Are these coupons a currency issued by the churches?"
Anderson immediately stood up and offered the answer:
"Yes, Young Master. Essentially every orthodox major church issues point coupons, which serve as internal scrip for the church.
"Anyone inside or outside the church, so long as they possess the corresponding point coupons, can purchase goods and services within that church. Between the coupons of different churches, there are specialized black markets where exchanges can be made, just like currency exchange between different nations.
"Long ago, back when the Church of Light still existed, it issued its own 'Indulgence Coupons';
"it also aggressively mandated fixed exchange rates with the coupons of all other churches, leading to a period of rampant coupon inflation.
"However, following the collapse of the Church of Light, the Indulgence Coupons vanished. Although the point coupons issued by the various orthodox churches today are somewhat intricate, they are kept carefully controlled."
Karen noticed that neither Old Anderson, Bede, nor Mike looked at him with an expression of 'how can you not even know this?' Instead, their demeanor grew even more respectful.
This was understandable. It was like chatting with someone in his previous life: if one person mentioned they didn't have a credit card, someone who survived on credit cards most likely wouldn't mock them as an outdated bumpkin, but would envy them instead, assuming they simply had no shortage of cash.
Karen's ignorance of church point coupons only showed that Diss had protected his family entirely too well. Furthermore… Diss certainly had no shortage of coupons; he likely had no use for such things at all.
If the Allen family's secular wealth had been reduced to a mere number, then the Inmerlais family under Diss's leadership treated coupon wealth as a mere number;
how many Order coupons was a godhead fragment worth? Diss possessed three of them.
"So, Corona Island is a smuggling port for raw materials?" Karen asked.
Because Corona Island hadn't appeared on the first list of secular assets, nor did it appear on the second.
"Yes. The raw materials required by these three workshops must all be smuggled in from Corona Island," Bede answered.
So the first ledger of secular wealth existed to serve the second. Using money, connections, and family foundation, they converted it into workshops providing goods required by the churches, earned church coupons, and spent them.
Coupons could be used to purchase cultivation supplies for family descendants, or to buy protective services from the churches.
Moreover, the larger the workshop business grew, the deeper their ties with those churches became. After all, no church wanted its raw material supplier to suffer an incident that cut off its supplies. Rival factions looking to move against you would have to weigh that carefully.
Bede spoke up: "At its peak, the Allen family possessed twelve workshops supplying basic materials to eight orthodox major churches. Now, only these three remain. Six of them were steadily swallowed up by the Raphael family over the past sixty years."
Mike added, "The Raphael family previously managed two of our Allen family's workshops."
"Oh, so that's how it is."
Karen nodded. No wonder the Raphael family had been able to push the Allen family to such extremes. They hadn't tried to buy out hotels or suppress stock shares; the Raphael family didn't care about secular wealth at all. They had launched their offensive directly against the roots of the Allen family's foundation.
In the eyes of the regional church administrative offices in Wien, this was likely viewed as nothing more than suppliers fighting among themselves. Naturally, they wouldn't care much. Regardless of who seized the supply channels, the raw goods would still be delivered to them in the end.
"How is the Raphael family doing now?" Karen asked.
"Riven by internal strife," Old Anderson answered with a smile. "Their family foundation isn't deep. Unlike our Allen family, losing a patriarch doesn't actually affect us much."
Since everyone was an idiot anyway, replacing one idiot with another made little difference;
as Purr put it, there was zero room left to decline, but infinite room to grow.
Old Anderson was mocking himself.
"Can we seize this opportunity to take that business back?" Karen asked.
He had already begun viewing this like gang members taking back a harbor dock.
Now that the rival gang's boss was dead and their branches were locked in infighting, why shouldn't they strike to reclaim their lost territory?
Bede showed a troubled expression. "We cannot. The Allen family currently lacks the offensive strength to strike."
"No offensive strength?"
"Yes. This is the third sheet, detailing the current members of the Allen family's faith system." Bede handed the third page to Karen.
Karen took the page, thinking to himself: *So this is the list of top enforcers in the Allen gang.*
Family Faith System Tier One: eighteen people, followed by their names.
Family Faith System Tier Two: eight people, followed by their names.
Family Faith System Tier Three: three people, specifically: Wood, Mike, and… Anderson.
Karen looked up at Old Anderson. This old man who had tumbled out of his chair earlier was actually one of the Allen family's peak combatants?
For a moment, Karen didn't know whether he should feel amazed or sorrowful.
"I have embarrassed myself before Young Master Karen," Old Anderson said.
"But I don't see Mr. Bede's name on here," Karen asked.
Bede smiled rather awkwardly. "I… I cannot sense the Founder."
As patriarch of the Allen family, you haven't even reached Tier One of the family faith system?
Well then.
Karen now fully believed that Mr. Bede, Eunice's father, truly was a pure artist.
Having likely discovered in his youth that he could not sense the Founder, he had simply cast off all psychological burdens and branched entirely down the wrong skill tree.
Karen looked at Mike again and asked, "Mr. Mike, your situation…"
Old Anderson sighed. "Mike originally had hope of advancing to Tier Four. In fact, he nearly succeeded. But in his haste for quick results, he chose to attempt an unconventional path, which resulted in his current state."
Mike gave Karen a wry smile. "I am at Tier Three, but I am essentially ruined. It is not because of my legs, but because my body is flooded with chaotic energy that I can no longer command."
Karen nodded. In other words, the two strongest individuals in the Allen family were Wood, guarding the raw material import line on Corona Island, and Old Anderson, holding down the home front.
"What about the Raphael family…" After asking this, Karen tapped his forehead lightly. "My apologies, that was inappropriate to ask."
"It may pertain to family fortune," Old Anderson said. "Many years ago, that traitorous family began borrowing wombs to bear children, while currying favor with minor churches. They gradually rose, and thirty years ago, a generation of exceptionally gifted members was born to them, ushering in a golden age. While our Allen family, on the other hand…
"Furthermore, although the Raphael family has fallen into division and infighting, a rash strike on our part might prompt them to unite once more.
"The current situation is that the Raphael family has voluntarily yielded many concessions to appease us and several other families, urging us to maintain restraint toward their current turmoil.
"Before this, facing the Raphael family's aggressive encroachment, we could only choose passive defense, constantly mediating through the old family connections we still possessed to keep them from getting too voracious."
At this point, tears spilled from Old Anderson's eyes.
"I have completely disgraced our ancestors."
Karen cut short Old Anderson's emotional display and asked, "There is something I would like to ask."
"Please ask, Young Master Karen." Old Anderson quickly wiped his tears and regained his composure.
"Is blessed water difficult to obtain?"
"It is not difficult," Mike answered. "It can be bought with riels. Many God's Servants make a living selling holy water like that."
"Then what about a swimming pool's worth of blessed water?"
"Uh…" Mike froze.
Old Anderson answered, "That is not difficult either, though it would require mobilizing water wagons to purchase it from various places. Of course, individual God's Servants carry very small reserves; they generally sell whatever little they produce, and they might dilute it from time to time.
"However, if we use point coupons, we can purchase it directly from the major churches. Generally, large churches store such materials in massive reservoirs as reserves.
"Do you need it?"
"Yes, I need it," Karen nodded.
"If I may be so bold, Young Master Karen, might I know your purpose in requiring such a vast quantity of holy water?"
"I need to complete my purification ritual and become a God's Servant," Karen added. "My grandfather instructed me that I would require this much holy water."
"Very well, I understand. Bede."
"Father."
"With the utmost speed, mobilize all family connections and the church coupons on the family accounts to procure the holy water Young Master Karen requires."
"Yes, Father."
"Then, my thanks."
"You are far too polite, Young Master Karen. You are the true master of the Allen family now; it is only right and proper that you have the authority to use the Allen family's wealth."
Just then, a maid carried in breakfast.
"Young Master, please enjoy your breakfast. We will take our leave for now."
"All right. You may all go and rest."
After Anderson and his two sons departed the study, Karen was left alone to eat his breakfast.
A moment later, the study door was pushed open a crack, and Purr slipped inside.
She took up a spot before her own portrait, scrutinizing it carefully.
Karen took a bite of his sandwich and teased, "Do you regret not leaving behind a proper portrait of your true appearance when the painter drew you?"
"I never regret what I do," Purr replied. "By the way, those three fools came to report on the family situation just now, didn't they? What do you think?"
"The Allen family is very rich."
"That's not what I was asking."
"Regarding the other aspect, the family truly feels a bit weak… Tell me, what does Tier Three of your family faith system equate to?"
"The Radio Fairy."
"Alfred?"
"Yes."
Karen took a sip of water and remarked with feeling, "This is the most precise Ah Fu has ever been used as a unit of measurement for combat strength."
"Did you have them prepare the supplies for your purification?"
"Mm."
"Good. They'll be very obedient. After all, normal people only need a bowl, while you need a whole pool. Unless their brains have been swapped for pickled herring, there's no way they would dare neglect it. In fact, they'll be overjoyed."
"Understood."
Having finished his breakfast, Karen saw that Purr was still admiring her own portrait. He walked over to the study window and pushed it open; outside lay a vast expanse of green lawn.
Eunice had mentioned that she liked taking a horse for walks near the manor at dusk.
Yet looking out from Karen's vantage point, he could see an enclosed area between the lake and the greenery, filled with stone monuments of peculiar designs.
"What place is that?" Karen asked.
Purr finally finished admiring herself, hopped onto Karen's shoulder, glanced outside, and answered, "Those are gravestones."
"What unusual shapes."
"Because the past generations of Allen family ancestors were all ostentatious by nature. See that gravestone shaped like a pirate ship? Beneath it lies Count Rekar—the one in the portrait behind us who's embracing the Queen with his hand deliberately resting on her backside."
Karen made a point of looking back and found that Purr's description was entirely accurate: Count Rekar's hand was indeed deliberately resting against the Queen's rear.
That meant when the painter was capturing them, he had posed that way intentionally.
"How should I put it? Though it feels uncouth, even vulgar, I can feel what that ancestor of yours was trying to express."
It was the savage, untamed arrogance of the open seas.
"All right, I'm off to have breakfast. Order another serving for me and have it sent to the bedroom. I'm going to enjoy a young lady's breakfast in bed!"
"But I just finished a breakfast," Karen reminded her.
"Doesn't matter. Just like needing an ocean of holy water for your purification, the more you eat, the happier Old Anderson will be."
Purr darted out of the study.
Karen turned back once more to gaze at the distant cemetery outside the window, remarking with feeling:
"If the Allen family's ancestors knew what the family has reduced itself to, they'd probably die of rage in their coffins all over again."
Karen turned, preparing to ring the bell on the desk to summon a maid to prepare breakfast for Purr.
Yet halfway through reaching out his hand,
he froze,
murmuring:
"To die of rage all over again, wouldn't they have to… come back to life first?"
Chapter 86