Michael showed genuine surprise. He thought that he was the only one in the entire region making a Golden Road. After all, the original one had been abandoned and left in the dust all those years ago.
"They're building their own Golden Roads?" he asked, incredulous at the coincidence. Who would have thought that people would start their own projects just as he started his.
"Yes," Trakius confirmed, moving his Bishop piece to the corner. "It has been an open secret to leaders like us that a competition has started between the up and coming companies in the Queens region.
At first, we thought that they were simply having a friendly rivalry among them with no specific goal in mind other than profit. But then, we noticed that all of those companies were connected to the main conglomerates controlling the global market today. That is no coincidence.
What's weird about it is that the conglomerates themselves aren't the one making the moves. It's their sub companies.
You don't know anything about this? I'm sure the Vanderbilt family is participating in this too, with your cousins or aunts and uncles making moves with their companies."
He shook his head. Even though he was part of the Vanderbilt family, he was barely related to them in-name.
He wasn't surprised that he wasn't informed about any of this. His grandfather didn't even show up when Michael awakened his Supreme Talent. Probably none of them even know about the Reborn business. So, it was safe to say that he was never going to be included in the Vanderbilt business, which in all honesty, he didn't care about.
Whatever they were planning, he wasn't going to be involved. At least, not in the name of Vanderbilt.
"I can see why they would want to start their own Golden Road," he said, pondering. "The potential for profit is extremely high in the short term and in the long term. To be honest, I'm wondering why they never even tried it before now."
He only started the project because he coincidentally arrived in Orcus Town, where it all started back in the olden times.
So this makes him all wonder…
"Why now?" he asked Trakius. "Is there a reason why they suddenly think building a Golden Road is profitable?"
Trakius went silent for a moment and made another move on the chess board.
"This is only a conjecture of mine, an educated guess if you will, but I think it all has to do with the current agreement between the Ocean King and the Draconic Queen."
Michael stared at Trakius, wanting him to continue his words.
"Long story short, the agreement between the two Rulers now allows for easier and faster travel between continents. This means that we'll probably see a lot of tourists from other parts of the world in the coming years. I'm sure you already see the importance in controlling the Golden Road…"
Michael was stunned. He never knew that such a huge shift in global politics had occurred without him even knowing about it.
He could already see the implications of this with regards to tourism. It was no wonder that companies now were pouring billions and billions of gold coins in order to get a great start in the upcoming boom in tourists later.
By controlling the Golden Road, they could control the flow of tourists and commerce!
Michael felt incredibly lucky that he stumbled upon Orcus Town and found the Golden Road. Due to a total coincidence, he was able to unknowingly prepare the Reborn company to compete in the tourism boom.
"To be honest, I am building my own Golden Road," he confessed to Trakius.
This seemed to have surprised the old man quite a bit.
"And you knew nothing about the agreement between the two Rulers beforehand?"
Michael shook his head.
"HAHAHAHA!" Trakius laughed, making the spectators around them wonder why the Tower Master was laughing without any sound.
"What's so funny?"
"It's nothing. I just find it incredibly satisfying at my old friend Seberus' misfortune. He has always expressed his regret about you not becoming a fully fledged wizard because of your immense talent.
Now I see that your business acumen may be even more monstrous than we think. You have inherited your grandfather's intuition, making you all the more suited to continue your path as a businessman."
Michael scratched his nose awkwardly.
"Let's get back to the topic at hand. You're building your own Golden Road? Where?"
"Neo Orcus. It was previously known as Orcus Town until they joined our Nation."
Trakius creased his forehead, trying to remember where he heard the name 'Orcus Town', when it suddenly hit him.
"That place? Isn't that where the original Golden Road was located? How were you able to do all of that? Last I heard, they were getting plagued by frequent earthquakes and aggressive Orcs."
Michael explained everything to Trakius, how he arrived at the place, how he renovated its structures, and how he reunited the two Orc tribes.
The Tower Master was so engrossed in Michael's story that he completely forgot to make a move on the board for an entire two minutes.
"Amazing," he uttered. "The original Golden Road is a tried and true method to efficiently disperse commerce throughout the Queens Region. If you are able to complete its construction, I think you may have a chance at winning whatever game they're playing."
Michael wasn't doing it for their competition, but it wouldn't hurt to win something as well, whatever that was.
"One of my current goals in Angora City is to ask the Duke for permission to allow the construction of my Golden Road here. Do you think that you could help me out, put in a good word?" Michael asked politely.
This kind of favor wasn't that easy to fulfill since the Guild of Arcana always tries to remain neutral in these sorts of earthly affairs.
"Hmm…you are not the first one to ask me about this," Trakius revealed, squinting. "I have already been approached by a certain company within Angora to try and gain the favor of the Magic Tower."
Michael looked at the chessboard and uttered the name on the tip of his tongue.
"HammerStone."
Trakius nodded. "Yes. The owner of the HammerStone company is a direct descendant from the Hephaestus conglomerate.
As you may have experienced for yourself, the HammerStone company has been trying to increase their value for a while now. He wants to prove to us and everyone else in Angora that they are the company that has the best potential to reach the greatest heights."
"How?"
"The Golden 500. He is the only one in the City with that kind of credential, which is truly impressive on its own. And by increasing his rank by at least one place, he can prove that he can lead a company to a successful future."
A confused look was painted on Michael's face.
"Why would he want to prove that?"
"Because he wants to become the main sponsor for Angora City. He wants us to become part of his assets in the upcoming Golden Road war between the sub companies. This will ensure that he has enough allies to contend against his peers."