Upon hearing about Michael's Supreme Talent, the elders sat up straight and looked at the ten-year-old boy with a spark in their eyes.
It was rare for them to see such a promising youth.
Just the fact that he was extremely talented in magic was enough to make him the most important grandchild in the entire Vanderbilt lineage!
But a Supreme Talent? That was another thing entirely.
The Board of Directors all looked at each other, sending silent signals with just their eyes.
They were the people who helped build the Vanderbilt business to the behemoth it was now. They had more than enough insight to know how much of an asset Michael could become in the Vanderbilt family.
They would have probably already asked Bart to let Michael live in the Vanderbilt Kingdom so that they could nurture the kid using all of their resources.
However, when they remembered something, they quickly got disheartened.
"Your child's talent is truly one in a million," one old guy said, sitting on the seat directly next to the throne. "We would like nothing more than to increase the inheritance given to your son that will reflect the value we put on his future."
Upon hearing this, Bart and Lylia's expression turned into one of joy and anticipation. This was their very goal from the start.
"We are glad to hear that! Anything will help in nurturing Michael into his full potential," Bart said respectfully, with a hint of excitement.
But as Bart raised his head, he noticed something.
"By the way…where is my father?" He asked.
There was a clear absence in the throne room. The main seat reserved only for the legendary Vanderbilt was empty. The most important man in the room was missing.
The old man sighed. "That is precisely the problem, Bart. Even though we have advised him to stay in his room, he has decided to leave and pursue some trivial matter."
Michael and Bart were both disappointed to hear that Yze Vanderbilt was absent from today's meeting.
Bart wanted to introduce his pride and joy to his father, but the old man seemed to be busy with some other thing. It was a bit dismaying.
"Is there some kind of problem?" Michael asked out loud.
From the way the old man phrased his words, he made it seem like there was some kind of complication that they couldn't solve without the main Vanderbilt man himself.
"Your child is very astute," the old man sighed. "There is indeed a problem. Although we would like to give young Michael a lot more monetary funding and assistance, without Yze here himself, it will not be possible."
Bart stood up, indignation painted on his face. "What do you mean? I thought you said my son deserves all the help from the family?"
The old man raised his hand and tried to calm down Bart. "Truthfully, none of us were expecting the little Michael to be this talented. We only heard that he was good at magic. Because of that, we only decided on a lesser inheritance for him.
If we had known that Michael would receive a Supreme Skill, we would have planned to endow him with more inheritance and let him study abroad with the best care possible."
Bart rubbed his hair in frustration. "Can't you change that?"
"That is the problem. If Yze is here, then he can certainly overturn the decision. But unfortunately, he is unavailable at this time."
Lylia also stood up. "Should we reschedule this meeting then?"
But the old man shook his head. "Unfortunately, after today, the leftover inheritance will be divided up by the entire lineage. By the time Yze gets back, there will be nothing left for Michael to receive.
Do not worry. It's not as if the inheritance Michael will receive is something to scoff at.
We will give the entire territory of the Parched Lands to Michael, the youngest son of the Vanderbilt Family."
Upon hearing this, Bart couldn't help but sigh in relief.
The elder Board of Directors made it seem like Michael wasn't going to receive anything good. But Bart knew that although the Parched Lands was a barren wasteland, it was still a large enough estate that Michael could sell for a lot of money.
"Parched Lands? Dad, what's that?" Michael asked Bart.
"The Parched Lands is a large territory south of our continent. Most of it is uninhabitable, so there are only monsters and demi-humans living there.
Oh, right. You asked me earlier where we can get that 'petroleum oil' that you've been asking about for your 'engine' project, right? Well, most of it can be found in the Parched Lands."
Once Michael heard that, an idea suddenly popped up in his mind. It was so crazy that he almost felt goosebumps from it.
In his previous world, wars were waged only for the sole reason of oil acquisition.
This world still treated petroleum oil as nothing useful other than lighting fires. But Michael knew about their true potential.
Since he had already invented the engine, he could finally harness electrical energy using petroleum oil as fuel!
So much flashed through his mind. Light bulbs, trains, heating, cars…everything was possible with petroleum oil!
What if I move there? I can build my own house that works entirely on electricity!
And in the future, if he started to sell his inventions to the world, they would finally realize the true potential of petroleum oil.
Now, who would be the one to provide oil for them? It would be the guy who owned the Parched Lands! The potential for business was too tempting to pass up.
"Michael, this is good," Bart and Lylia said to their son with excitement. "If you sell the Parched Lands, you can have more than a hundred million gold coins! This is already a sizable inheritance!"
"Ha…haha.." Michael could only laugh for now. He was inwardly preparing himself for when he revealed his plans to move there.
His mother would surely have a fit.