Meanwhile, somewhere in the depths of the Queens region, there was a group of long-time friends who sat on a circular table, playing cards and drinking ale to pass the time.
They all had gray thinning hair, wrinkly skin, and stooped postures. They were old. Real old.
Despite that, there was one thing about them that was still full of fire and vigor—and that was their eyes.
It still showed the same relentless hunger they had when they were younger. And now, their age had allowed them to gain wisdom and knowledge to act carefully yet decisively.
At the very end of the circular table was a man whose legendary name reverberated throughout the whole world. It was none other than the ruthless lion of the business realm, Yze Vanderbilt!
"My friends… When has it been since we last convened like this? We should do it more often," he said to his cohorts.
In response, the bald old man with sunken eyes and a dark complexion next to him scoffed. "We are not even acquaintances, Yze. Certainly not even friends. We are your rivals."
That man was the founder of the Hephaestus company, renowned for supplying the whole world with quality weapons and armor.
Yze shrugged his shoulders. "Forgive me for treating you all as such. I feel as if we have all bonded together as we fought on the battlefield we call the market. Who else am I going to call friends if not for my fellow men and women who lead a conglomerate comparable to mine?"
That was right. Gathered in this room were the very heads and founders of the leading conglomerates of this world.
These few and select groups of people held the world in their hands. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire market would crash if something were to happen to this very room.
Of course, they had proper defenses to prevent such cases, but the fact that the possible disappearance of these people could create such chaos in the world was more than enough to state their importance.
"Lighten up, everybody. It was merely a jest. You don't need to act so offended that I called you all my friends," Yze chuckled to himself.
In a room full of people with net worths in the trillions of gold coins, Yze was the only one among them who had a carefree enough attitude to crack jokes.
After all, every one of them here considered Yze as their ultimate rival. It was their life's goal to someday topple the Legendary Lion Vanderbilt from his title of 'The Wealthiest Man Alive'. Because of that, they never let down their guard in front of him.
But somehow, Yze never even felt the pressure. He regarded them as his 'friends' and treated their competitiveness as nothing more than banter. It was as if he knew that they could never oust the Vanderbilt name from being the most successful company in the world.
This definitely annoyed most of them, which Yze seemed to love doing.
The old woman sitting next to Yze finally had enough and raised her hand. "Let's just get to the chase, shall we? We are all taking precious time away from our companies to discuss something important happening in the world."
She was the owner of Goldstone Group, the foremost company in real estate and property management.
"That is right," another old woman with pink hair nodded. "This is a matter that will affect all of us. And despite how we are all competing against each other, we are still living in one world. It will be beneficial for all of us if we exchange information."
This particular elder owned the largest apothecary company in the world, making their money from selling potions and managing hospitals.
Yze crossed his arms and cracked his neck. "So? What did you all find out?"
"Don't act like you don't know," said the old bald man.
"I just want to know what you know," Yze retorted.
The whole room fell into silence before another old man on the other side of the table finally opened his mouth.
"We need to talk about what's happening overseas. The Ocean King and the Draconic Overlord have finally reached an accord. This has tremendous consequences in our continent."
That guy was none other than the head of the Osborne family, the only other family that was in contention against the Vanderbilt family for supremacy over the markets.
And with his no-nonsense attitude, he announced the root of their problem without waiting for anybody else. This was quite disadvantageous for him because he was telling everyone privileged information that others could use against him, but he didn't care.
"Well, what do you know? We do have the same information," Yze said, teasingly.
"You know what this means right, Yze?"
"I do," Yze replied. "This means profits will be up for grabs…"
One of the things that made it troublesome for people to cross the oceans and travel to other continents was because of the treacherous body of water between them.
There were naturally occurring whirlpools that spawned out of nowhere, thunderous storms that could form in the middle of calm seas, and even towering tsunamis that were impossible to cross over.
Despite his rule over the mighty seas, the Ocean King never helped anyone cross his territory. They were allowed to, but at their own risk.
Meanwhile, the Draconic Queen, with her complete rule over all the dragons, used her subjects to offer long-distance journeys crossing continents for a very hefty sum of gold coins. It was a very fruitful business.
However, the dragons were still subject to the whims of the natural ocean. They were still troubled by storms and tornadoes trying to cross the unforgiving seas.
At least, they used to.
Now, the Ocean King and the Dragon Queen have made an agreement.
The details were unknown, but there was one thing clear: the dragons could now cross the ocean without any fear of disasters. The Ocean King would give them protection from the mighty seas.
This would make intercontinental travel extremely easier, letting more people travel abroad without much risk to their lives.
In short, there would be more tourists in the coming years. Rich tourists with gold to spend.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I think we need to restart the Golden Road," Yze declared to the room with a smile on his face.
What was the Golden Road? It was a network of trade routes that connected all the territories of the Queens region.
And where did this route start?
It was none other than Orcus Town.