280-281

*Chapter 280: The Most Important Person in the Kinpu Family*

Early the next morning.

Reaching out with his hand, Milo felt nothing but empty air. Slowly opening his sleepy eyes, he realized the president's daughter was no longer by his side.

He yawned, a bit lazily, then sat up, got out of bed, grabbed his robe, and put it on. Heading into the bathroom, he began his morning routine.

The space was a luxurious ambassador suite, approximately 120 square meters, complete with a separate bedroom and living room. Whether for relaxation or work, the suite offered an incredibly spacious and comfortable experience.

This was the Cheval Blanc Paris Hotel, part of the LVMH Group, located in the city center. It boasted a Dior spa and the longest indoor pool in Europe—a newly opened luxury destination.

In other words, it was one of Milo’s own hotels.

When Milo walked into the living room, Claude had already arranged breakfast.

Milo couldn’t help but feel a little impressed by her.

Despite being exhausted last night—her expressions repeatedly showing how worn out she was—she still displayed astonishing resilience and determination.

By contrast, Milo’s Hollywood starlets would have all been sleeping in by now. But Claude had a duty later in the day to represent her father at an event in Marseille, meeting with a group of female delegates.

So, despite the severe dark circles under her eyes and her unsteady steps, she had willed herself out of bed early.

“Good morning, my ordinary friend.”

“Shut up, you brat,” she retorted.

“No, my dear ordinary friend, are you sure I’m just a ‘brat’? Haven’t you already paid the price for saying that? Or... are you hoping to taste the ‘brat’s’ wrath again?” Milo teased, wrapping an arm around Claude’s waist and nuzzling her neck affectionately.

Seeing his mischievous grin and how he seemed ready to start again, Claude, running on sheer willpower, finally gave in.

“Alright, alright. You’re the big guy, the super big guy. Let me off the hook, please. I really can’t today.”

“I shouldn’t have stayed last night,” she groaned. “Now all I want to do is sleep, but I really can’t. Let’s call it a truce, alright?”

Seeing her utterly exhausted, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, Milo chuckled smugly and let her go. Sitting across from her, he glanced at the typical French breakfast laid out on the table.

Crispy, toasted baguette slices slathered with butter; croissants served with jam; orange juice, milk, or hot coffee...

French breakfasts were remarkably simple, rarely deviating from these staples.

Much like their cuisine, Milo thought. It’s all about reinventing the same basic ideas.

It was thanks to their early dominance as a global power—and the British being so indifferent about food—that French cuisine gained its worldwide fame. But in reality, it wasn’t that special.

In Europe, the most diverse and delicious cuisine belonged to Italy. After all, even French cuisine originally drew heavily from Italian influences.

“So, have you decided whether you’ll take the job in Brussels?” Milo asked as he munched on a croissant smeared with sweet jam.

Baguettes, though notoriously hard once cooled, were quite pleasant freshly baked, sliced, and spread with butter that melted into the warm bread.

That’s why baguettes had become synonymous with French bread.

“I discussed it with my father,” Claude said softly. “He thinks it’s a good idea. But when he realized it was your suggestion, he became concerned.”

“Concerned?”

Milo, who had only taken a few bites of the meatless breakfast, found it hard to continue eating. “Is he worried you’ll be under my control, or is he more concerned about America’s growing influence in Europe? Come on. Even if I did nothing, do you think America wouldn’t act? Claude, do you think the United States and Britain would ever be happy seeing Europe truly united? Or that Europe could genuinely become a unified entity under the EU?”

Without waiting for her reply, and perhaps because he didn’t want to eat any more of the bland and overly sweet French breakfast, Milo continued.

“Europe can never become a true whole.”

“Even without external interference, your internal divisions are enough. There’s the centuries-old animosity between England and France, and the unresolved grievances between Germany and France from the First and Second World Wars. Then there are the tensions between the Dutch and Belgians, and the Italians and everyone else. Honestly, Africa is more united than Europe. Think about it—can you name a European country that hasn’t had conflicts with its neighbors over the past few centuries? Almost none.”

“And then there are the external factors. It’s not just the U.S. Even Russia and other major powers don’t want to see Europe become a unified superpower.”

“One America is already more than enough for the world. Nobody wants to go back to the Cold War era.”

“If Europe truly unified, a new Cold War would inevitably arise. But this time, it would be the U.S. versus Europe. Do you think America would sit idly by and let that happen?”

This wasn’t just Milo’s opinion.

It was the prevailing view among America’s elite, as well as the upper echelons of other world powers.

Aside from the leaders of France and Germany, even ordinary Europeans weren’t particularly enthusiastic about seeing Europe become a unified whole.

“But we’ve already made progress. The EU was established a few years ago, and we’re becoming more united,” Claude argued weakly.

“Ha...” Milo shook his head. “Let’s wait and see.”

If Europe were to truly unify, its first step would undoubtedly be to align with Russia. Without Russia’s powerful military and abundant cheap energy, Europe could never be a complete entity.

But that was something no major power, including the U.S., wanted to see.

Even Middle Eastern countries didn’t want Europe to unify.

So, it wasn’t just the U.S. that would throw obstacles in their path—other nations would too.

This was also why the U.S. couldn’t and wouldn’t ally with Russia.

Allying with Russia would push Europe closer to other nations. Conversely, allying with others would bring Europe and Russia together.

The U.S. was in a tough spot.

In the end, they could only focus on aligning with Europe, pressuring Russia, and opposing everyone else.

At this stage, Europe was the bigger threat and had more power.

The strategy of siding with the second strongest to fight the third and fourth strongest was America’s best option.

But then the unexpected happened. The fourth power rose rapidly, ultimately becoming a challenger to the first.

This put both the first and second powers in a bind, leading to countless boomerang effects.

“But what does any of this have to do with you working for the EU?” Milo asked with a laugh. “Surely your father isn’t opposing it just because it was my suggestion?”

“It’s about the committee,” Claude said after chewing her bread and sipping her milk.

“I personally prefer to work for the Council, but my father believes I’m better suited for the European Commission.”

The European Commission consists of 28 commissioners.

One serves as the President, leading the entire Commission.

The other commissioners are assigned various portfolios and are referred to as European Commissioners for specific domains, such as foreign affairs.

---

For example, before Milo was reborn, there was that American mother who gave birth to seven children. She later became the head of the European Commission.

In the European Union, Europeans also practice a separation of powers, with the Council, the Commission, and the Parliament each responsible for oversight, administration, and legislation, respectively.

Therefore, the most active institution is the Commission, which handles administrative matters.

"I think you're well-suited to work in the Commission too," Milo nodded.

"Even you think so," Claude replied. "Then I'll join the Commission."

Milo smiled to himself, thinking that he must make sure Claude becomes an "American mom" as well. Before she becomes the head of the European Commission, she would need to give birth to at least seven children.

The French couldn’t lose to the Germans—not even in a childbearing contest, right?

There were the IPO roadshow cocktail parties for Yahoo in Paris and the subsequent ones in London.

Nothing much to elaborate on there.

Rather than attending Yahoo's IPO cocktail parties, it was more accurate to say that Milo used these opportunities to visit his girlfriends in these cities before Christmas.

Claude and Irene.

The former was France's "First Daughter," though she did have an older sister.

However, her sister and mother were so uninvolved that they were less useful than mascots.

Essentially, Chirac had delegated most of the First Lady's responsibilities to this daughter.

Hence, Claude was now known in France as the "Minister Without Portfolio."

Irene, on the other hand, was the daughter of a duke and a future inheritor of a great aristocratic title.

Although the influence of Britain's noble alliances had declined significantly, this connection still mattered, and Milo took it seriously—likely because of the Blackburn lineage in his blood.

The American pioneers who came from this region had a tendency to revere the English aristocracy they considered noble.

Believe it or not, even if Milo's affair with Irene were exposed directly to the Rockefellers or other families, Ariana wouldn’t be angry. She might even encourage his relationship with Irene.

This mirrored the way wealthy Americans in the past were keen on marrying the daughters of bankrupt European nobles.

So, after finishing his work in Europe before Christmas, Milo returned to his beloved New York.

Under the night sky, snowy Manhattan gleamed with bright lights.

The city was beautifully decorated with Christmas lights that had been put up two weeks early, creating a magical winter wonderland.

“Coffee.”

“Thank you.”

Milo paused his rapid typing on the keyboard, looking up with a smile as Ivanka, wearing a two-piece silk pajama set, handed him a cup of coffee.

“Is this the last volume of Harry Potter?” Ivanka asked, standing behind Milo and gently massaging his shoulders with care.

Although she was pregnant, she was still in her first trimester, so her belly wasn’t very noticeable yet.

However, her youthful face had already started to glow with a maternal radiance, a testament to her exceptional health and natural readiness for pregnancy.

“Yes. The Harvard Press has been urging me to finish it for a while now,” Milo replied, taking a sip of coffee and breathing in Ivanka's fragrance. “It’s also time for Paladin Films and Universal to start working on the live-action adaptations. I figured I might as well finish writing the last two books to make the upcoming plans smoother.”

Ivanka nodded thoughtfully. Watching the father of her child typing furiously without hesitation, she marveled at his skill.

His fingers danced across the keyboard so quickly that it seemed like he was merely copying something. However, he wasn’t.

She had seen it with her own eyes—he was creating everything from scratch, conjuring words and sentences seemingly out of thin air.

It was... magical, she thought.

Even without his family background or unmatched investment foresight, Ivanka believed her man would still achieve great success simply through his extraordinary creativity.

What she didn’t know was that Milo wasn’t really creating.

He was indeed copying—just directly from his mind, which made it look like original work while being astonishingly fast.

“So the Harry Potter live-action movies will be filmed in Britain?” Ivanka asked curiously.

“Mm-hmm. I’ve reached some agreements with the British. London is offering me some incentives, and since the story is set there, it makes sense to shoot it in the UK.”

Milo kept typing as he leaned back slightly, resting comfortably against the fullness of the young mother’s figure.

He even turned his head slightly, rubbing against her before continuing, “Trust me, the live-action movies will be even more popular than the books. This IP is worth my attention—it’ll generate at least several billion dollars.”

Ivanka playfully smacked the cheeky father of her child on the head.

At home in the evening, she wasn’t wearing a bra.

The silk nightwear made the sensation even more pronounced, and she felt a bit uncomfortable from his antics—especially since her size seemed to be increasing due to the pregnancy.

Every day, the growth was noticeable, and she wondered whether it would be even more overwhelming after giving birth...

“Sometimes I think, my dear, you’re a monster,” Ivanka sighed. “Creating a multi-billion-dollar IP with such ease… My father hasn’t even earned a fraction of that in his entire life.”

“That was in the past.”

Milo, captivated by her unique scent—a blend of youthful sweetness and budding maturity—felt a surge of desire but restrained himself.

After all, this was his woman and his child. He had to cherish them.

“Trust me, as long as Don follows my lead, the Trump family’s wealth will increase tenfold within a decade.”

“Mm,” Ivanka softly agreed.

This was also why her father tolerated his young daughter having a child with a notorious playboy.

It was why she was now considered the family’s golden child.

After all, the Trump family was not limited to just her immediate relatives. She had two aunts, an uncle, and a grandfather who was still alive.

One of her aunts had even served as a federal judge in New Jersey for years.

Before Milo appeared, Kim Pu was thriving in New York, navigating the city with ease. He managed to recover from bankruptcy five times and rise again, all thanks to the indispensable help of his older sister.

She was once regarded as a key figure in helping the family enter the ranks of the true upper class.

But now?

Ivanka, the eldest aunt, was just nominated this year by President Linton to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

This is one of the 13 federal appellate courts in the United States, and the position is for life.

And that happened exactly one week after Ivanka announced her pregnancy.

So, everyone in the Kim Pu family knows:

Now, Ivanka is the most important person to the entire family.

(End of chapter)

*Chapter 281: The Canadian Financial Turmoil*

Christmas was drawing nearer.

The festive atmosphere had completely enveloped the United States.

New York, as the largest city in America, had practically turned into a sea of red.

Red Christmas decorations dominated the colors of most stores and shopping malls.

Numerous people dressed as Santa Claus paraded through the streets. Many parents, accompanied by one or two children or even their entire families, flocked to shopping malls for holiday purchases.

Milo sat in his car, gazing through the window at the lively scenes outside. Every storefront was adorned with wreaths, and doors and windows were festively decorated. Larger stores had even created special Christmas displays.

Truth be told, the atmosphere was quite similar to how China feels after Little New Year (the 23rd or 24th day of the 12th lunar month).

Joyful, bustling, and busy.

Everyone, whether adults or children, walked the streets carrying large shopping bags, their faces lit up with happy smiles.

And this was still three days before Christmas! The holiday shopping season had started long ago.

Black Friday's price wars had pushed American self-restraint to its lowest point.

Civility? What’s that?

People queued up overnight, waiting for stores to open, then stormed in like zombies in a frenzy, grabbing items as if everything were free.

This wasn’t about nationality; it was just human nature.

For Christmas, Milo would, of course, head back to Boston to celebrate.

As always, he planned to return on Christmas Eve. After all, the day after Christmas, Yahoo's official stock market debut awaited him.

He had to finish celebrating Christmas in Boston and then rush back.

After two years of hard work, the time to reap the rewards had finally come.

Yet he couldn’t focus solely on the internet and media industries.

Another major pillar of his career demanded significant amounts of his time and energy: finance.

Returning his attention to the present, Milo’s convoy soon arrived at the International Building in Rockefeller Center.

He went straight to the floor housing Paladin Investments.

Despite the proximity to Christmas, many people were still at their desks, as Wall Street rarely adhered to typical holiday schedules.

Doubt it?

It’s simple—visit Wall Street on Christmas night.

While other skyscrapers are dark, the illuminated offices of Wall Street show that being a "Wolf of Wall Street" is no easy feat.

Let alone now, with three days left before Christmas.

As a member of Wall Street, Paladin Investments was no exception.

In fact, because of a sudden financial event involving their northern neighbor, they—like most on Wall Street—had been working overtime since the previous night.

Chances were high that this Christmas, 99% of Wall Streeters wouldn’t get a holiday break.

The issue with the northern neighbor involved both American and Canadian capital.

On the surface, Canada, like Australia, was one of the two strongest members of the Commonwealth.

At this time, Canada’s power was undeniable.

In terms of GDP, it ranked 11th globally, with over $610 billion, accounting for 1.8% of the world’s total.

Its financial markets were highly developed, ranking 7th worldwide in the number of publicly traded companies, trailing only the United States, the United Kingdom, and other major developed nations.

While Canada had largely become America’s backyard, British influence remained significant.

After all, Canada had been under British rule for centuries, and British interests were deeply entrenched.

Historically, Canada had been the private playground of the Rothschild family.

Yes, that Rothschild family, often translated as "洛希尔家族" in Chinese.

For a long period, Canada was dominated by the Rothschilds, backed by the British Empire.

During this time, the Rothschilds acted as the financial stewards and proxies for the British royal family.

However, World War II devastated the British Empire, and the Rothschild family suffered heavy losses as a result.

Meanwhile, American capital, led by the Morgan and Rockefeller dynasties, seized the opportunity to make inroads into Canada, successfully establishing a foothold.

By the 1960s, as American influence in Canada grew and British prestige waned, Canada’s national flag was changed from the Union Jack to the Maple Leaf.

Even so, Canada remained part of the Commonwealth, and British capital, along with domestic Canadian enterprises, continued to resist American encroachment.

During this period, the Rothschild family naturally became the de facto leader of this coalition, helping unite Canadian capital to reclaim lost ground.

Over the next two decades, the Rothschilds’ influence in Canada grew exponentially.

They even backed the Progressive Conservative Party, which was gaining momentum and poised to overthrow the pro-American Liberal Party.

The Liberal Party was supported by American powers, primarily the Rockefellers and Morgans.

Here’s an obscure piece of history: In earlier times, the Rothschilds had not invested in the New World, deeming it unpromising.

Consequently, when the New World rose, they found it already divided among others.

Thus, the Rothschilds had to settle for fostering local powers.

In fact, both the Rockefeller and Morgan dynasties were initially nurtured by the Rothschilds.

Especially Morgan—he was essentially a proxy for the Rothschilds in America during their early days.

But, as they say, Americans are masters of burning bridges.

They outdid even the British in this regard.

In the end, Morgan successfully broke free from the control of the Rothschilds, establishing independence from the North American continent and beginning to challenge the Old World’s financial giants.

In contrast, Rockefeller fared much better. The Rockefeller family only accepted funding from the Rothschilds.

Unlike Morgan, which started as essentially the North American branch of the Rothschilds, Morgan initially served as their representative, a senior manager. Ultimately, however, Morgan turned the tables and consumed the Rothschilds’ influence, akin to a servant betraying their master.

For this reason, both Morgan and Rockefeller have never let their guard down against the Rothschild family.

This time, the Rothschild family’s strength in Canada has reached a new peak, and with Canada’s economic opportunities growing substantially, the Morgan and Rockefeller factions appear to have decided to reap the benefits from Canada.

Their plan: extract Canada’s resources to nourish their own empires while continuing to suppress their former masters.

While the overarching strategy is clear, the execution involves intricate details.

Among American conglomerates, the Morgan and Chicago factions were once the most domineering within the top ten financial empires.

Between 1935 and 1970, Morgan Stanley, one of the Morgan faction's two main pillars, achieved unmatched dominance in the financial world. Its sole slogan during that time was, "If God needed financing, He would go to Morgan Stanley."

However, every peak is followed by decline—a rule that remains unbroken.

The Morgan faction’s overwhelming aggression, while showcasing immense strength, inevitably invited backlash. The most visible target, Morgan, bore the brunt of President Roosevelt’s policies.

Even after Roosevelt’s death from a cerebral hemorrhage, Morgan’s troubles were far from over. Without Roosevelt as a lightning rod, the Morgan faction faced coordinated attacks from most of the other financial conglomerates.

Despite support from the Citibank faction, the repercussions were severe.

As a result, the Morgan faction has since shifted its approach, toning down its former aggression.

Meanwhile, the Chicago faction continued its audacious rise through the 1970s and 1980s. It became a visible target, rivaling Morgan in the financial sector and expanding aggressively in the oil industry. By leveraging its growing financial tentacles, the Chicago faction acquired significant stakes in companies traditionally dominated by the Rockefeller faction, such as Standard Oil of Indiana and Texaco.

This rapid expansion led to a surge in the Chicago faction’s strength, but it also exposed numerous vulnerabilities.

These weaknesses invited invasions by the Morgan and Rockefeller factions.

Under the combined onslaught of these two giants, the core families of the Chicago faction—such as the McCormicks, the Woods, the Armours, and the Crowns—were caught off guard and scrambled to defend themselves.

By the time they reacted, the Morgan and Rockefeller factions had already infiltrated their ranks.

The diverse family makeup of the Chicago faction prevented it from achieving the unity seen in the other two conglomerates. Consequently, the original four major families of Chicago could only focus on defense.

Today, the Chicago faction can no longer enforce the collective will of its founding families and is passively being pushed forward.

According to Milo’s intelligence, the Morgan and Rockefeller factions have decided to use the Chicago faction as their spearhead in exploiting Canada’s economy.

By acting under the banner of the Chicago faction, they plan to shield themselves from risks. Should the operation fail or provoke public outrage in Canada, the blame will fall squarely on the Chicago faction.

Beyond this, Morgan and Rockefeller likely have other considerations.

Compared to other factions, the Chicago faction resembles a chaotic tiger—powerful but disorganized.

Pitting the Chicago faction against the Rothschilds in a direct confrontation allows Morgan and Rockefeller to reap the spoils from the shadows.

This strategy is confined to the top levels of the two conglomerates, with outsiders—and even the Chicago faction itself—largely in the dark.

Ironically, Milo, now loosely affiliated with the Rockefeller family due to his involvement with Yahoo and his status as a leading figure in the Internet sector, is privy to this scheme.

With his unique abilities, Milo has ensured that Paladin Investments’ intelligence network closely monitors the Chicago faction’s financial institutions and the Canadian financial market.

This vigilance has yielded abundant intelligence.

Canada is about to become a major battleground.

In addition to the Morgan, Rockefeller, Chicago factions, and the Rothschild family, the fray will also include Canadian domestic capital, other American financial groups, and international speculators.

The battlefield will encompass Canada’s entire financial market and political arena.

Chaos is inevitable, but Milo intends to use this opportunity to establish a strong foothold in Canada.

Up until now, his influence in Canada has been negligible—limited to a few branches of Blackburn Bank and a small Paladin Media subsidiary in Toronto focused on media operations and distribution.

However, Milo vaguely knows how this financial war will end—not through his unique abilities, but through his memory of future events.

In the future, when China rises to prominence, the Rothschild family will have declined to the point where they are little more than a name. Their influence will be confined to old Europe, and even their core banking and financial businesses will have been nearly devoured.

By 2020, the Rothschild family reportedly survived primarily as intermediaries in major corporate mergers and acquisitions, leveraging their centuries-old network and reputation to scrape by.

Their decline was complete.

Yet now, according to Paladin Investments’ intelligence, the Rothschild family remains formidable, controlling financial interests across old Europe and many Commonwealth nations.

This suggests that the Morgan and Rockefeller factions may join forces to deliver a decisive blow to the Rothschilds, possibly reducing them to irrelevance.

In the coming decades, the continuous weakening and control of Europe by the Americans could lead to one possible outcome:

The old Europe-based Rothschild family might be toppled alongside old Europe itself by the Rockefeller and Morgan families, which are rooted in America.

The intricacies behind this are incredibly complex.

Milo, being an affiliate of the Rockefeller family with strong ties to the Morgan family, as well as a reborn individual with a proverbial "cheat code," was privy to these matters.

Most American financial groups, including the Chicago consortium being manipulated in the process, were likely unaware of these dynamics.

While Canada increasingly resembles America’s backyard, for now, it is just America’s backyard—not Milo's personal playground.

That juicy piece of fat, so tempting and easy to take, was right before his eyes.

Milo had long been eager to make his move.

This time, no matter what, he was determined to break in and claim his share of the feast!

However, for the sake of safety—and to avoid endangering his existing business empire—Milo knew he needed to proceed cautiously.

Before diving headfirst into this chaotic maneuver, he had to devise a comprehensive plan of action and prepare sufficient "ammunition."

That was why Milo visited Paladin Investments today: to sort out the funds he could currently mobilize.

As for the funds of his non-financial companies, Milo had no intention of reallocating them.

At his current level, there were simply too many forces keeping an eye on him.

The most obvious ones were Morgan and Rockefeller… which was no surprise, given their dominance in the financial sector.

Milo’s unparalleled talent in finance, which surpassed even his gift for writing novels, had made him a formidable presence in this field.

The rise of Paladin Investments was so rapid that it outpaced even the likes of Peter Lynch, who had the support of the Boston financial consortium, or Warren Buffett, backed by the Midwestern financial lords.

Milo understood clearly that even though his financial companies could be leveraged for this grand operation, each one had a different role to play.

In the banking sector, funds needed to be strategically utilized for assistance and acquisitions, but not exhausted entirely.

The real powerhouses, however, were Paladin Investments in the UK and Paladin Securities in France.

The former had recently scored big in Denmark, earning over $2 billion—a sum that was perfectly suited for inflow into Canada.

The latter, being part of old Europe’s financial system, could be used to disrupt the actions of the French Rothschilds. It might even serve as a bargaining chip during negotiations.

Without affecting the IPO of Yahoo or the operations of Aladdin Media, Milo calculated, along with Blackburn Foundation and Paladin Investments, that the funds available for this Canadian venture totaled around $40 to $50 billion.

He could have mobilized more, but doing so might compromise the operations of other areas in his business empire.

---

(End of Chapter)