After he finished speaking, the boardroom fell silent for a minute, it was Stark who broke the silence: "That's a rather creative concept... b******t, this is nothing but a Ponzi scheme, isn't it?"
Nick also turned to Shiller and said, "Although I estimated your morality as low as possible, its flexibility still frightens me."
Shiller suddenly said in all seriousness: "I've always believed that in order for mankind to enter the cosmos, it's not only the essence of human civilization that is needed, but also its dregs."
"Waste is a resource placed inappropriately. The essence is the driving force to the cosmos, and the dregs are weapons. After all, I doubt any cosmic civilization has as much dregs as humans."
"Of course, this is just a basic method." Shiller shrugged: "After the introduction of the concept of one-to-many, or many-to-many trading, we will have to change to barter trade. All of those are relics of primitive times, and they dare to call themselves advanced aliens without a commodity of general equivalent."
"Once there was a commodity of general equivalence, the concept of currency follows. And then there will be markets, supply and demand, crowdfunding, companies, stocks, futures..."
"What humans have to do is not to be a buyer who defaults on debts, nor a thug who brutally treats a creditor. Instead, they need to be a dealer with good reputation and image, praised in the whole cosmos for being fair and conscientious."
"And the military force will only serve as the necessary means to ensure fairness. We can even promise not to be the one who initiates the use of the Supreme Magician."
"So if they refuse to join, we let the Supreme Magician knock on their door, right?"
"Don't put it that way. If the Supreme Magician has to knock on their door, they even still have a chance to survive. This is already a huge step forward. We are essentially the Cosmic Anti-violence Vanguard Organization."
"When we have both justice and force, we can start establishing a trading system, setting trading rules, dividing classes, subdividing in detail, and being legitimate and reasonable from there..."
The other three looked at each other, while Shiller appeared nonchalant, not at all like someone who is plotting a universal capitalization scheme.
"Of course, these are things to consider later, let's discuss the first plan. It comes with many advantages."
"Actually, this is not really a scam, because in the later stages, the early investors will know the truth, but they won't stop. For the sake of their sunk costs, they will help us keep this secret. They won't just keep the secret, they will also voluntarily help us to find more people."
"This solves the problem of Earth's information blockage. Although we don't know about the Cosmic Sorcerer, the Cosmic Sorcerer certainly knows about the Cosmic Sorcerer."
"Regarding the principle of the Ponzi scheme, there's no need for further explanations, we all know that. However, the biggest problem with this scam is that after you run away with the money, you have to find a way to hide yourself and launder the money."
"If this were an individual, it might be relatively simple to hide or change identities. However, the Earth can't run away. We wouldn't abandon the entire Solar System just to fleece the Cosmic Sorcerer, would we?" Nick raised a question.
"If we really start to manipulate the strings, hiding ourselves may indeed be difficult. But there is another way, which is to find a powerful backer, promise him benefits, and let him help us deal with the trouble after we take the money and run."
Shiller then looked at Strange and said, "Didn't you mention earlier? Your teacher, the Supreme Magician, once said to you that she was currently busy with something about a new god being born?"
"Yes, just like I told you before. It seems that a mysterious being, who has been trading with her, told her that something is about to be born near Earth, and she is preparing for it."
"Would the mysterious existence behind her be interested in taking a stake?" Shiller shifted the elbow resting on the table a bit, then continued, "with the Supreme Magician's credibility as the guarantee for the opening, the existence behind her being the host, you first attract a few minor demons to join. Make a show with their investment power, and create a positive example for publicity."
"When more people join and accumulate strength, we then focus on attacking a major demon. Spending money to clear the way, promising him a high return rate, letting him join first, and tasting a bit of the sweetness, could lure a few more major demons."
"When these powerful demons join, we can propose a recruitment principle, letting them help us squeeze those smaller demons, and we'll give them a commission."
"When we prepare to run, we pay back those with big fists in full, and gang up to chop and eat those who are a bit lacking. A part of it is paid to the existence behind the Supreme Magician as protection money, and the rest we keep for ourselves."
"When the minor demons in the cosmos grow a bit more, we could use this portion of power as capital to fleece another wave."
"There is a question..." Stark, frowning, said: "You also know that an important point of the Ponzi scheme is that in the early stage physical goods are needed to defraud investments. What do you plan to use to tempt them to invest?"
"Didn't Steven mention it before? The existence behind the Supreme Magician told him that a new Beast Totem is being born."
"Speaking of which, what exactly is going on?" Nick asked Strange: "What is a Beast Totem? Will its birth on Earth have any bad impact on us?"