Chapter 2289: The Tip of the Iceberg

Ye Chen's words made Fei Kexin tremble from head to toe.

She knew very well the weight of this statement.

Since Ye Chen said he would ensure her grandfather lived for another ten years, he would certainly keep his promise.

And this, basically, was equivalent to giving her grandfather more than half a Rejuvenation Pill.

More importantly, the only condition for Ye Chen to ensure her grandfather lived another ten years was not money, nor material goods, but to have her grandfather assist her in firmly securing her position as the head of the Fei family!

She couldn't help but murmur in her heart: "Mr. Ye is doing all this... it's all to pave the way for me..."

Thinking of this, she looked at Ye Chen with teary eyes and said with immense gratitude: "Mr. Ye... thank you for everything you have done for Kexin... I swear, in the future, the Fei family will always advance and retreat with Mr. Ye, and will certainly become the most solid and reliable ally by Mr. Ye's side, without exception!"

Ye Chen nodded and said earnestly: "Actually, in the public world, whether it is my assets or the Fei family's assets, they can already be considered to have reached the pinnacle. But if one were to truly open up the world at a higher level, our strength is probably just enough to serve as a stepping stone. Those who are sensible can enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth, but those who are not sensible and insist on charging upward are very likely to face unexpected dangers."

Fei Kexin asked in confusion: "Mr. Ye, why do you think so? As far as I know, although there are many unknown hidden wealthy families all over the world, with the Fei family's strength, I dare not say we can rank in the top five globally, but the top ten is definitely not a problem. Your current asset level is not necessarily below the Fei family's either. Those stronger than us are few and far between."

Ye Chen shook his head gently, gazing at the starry sky ten thousand meters above outside the window, and sighed softly: "Our cognition is limited by our horizons. I used to think that the wealthiest family in the world was nothing more than the Rothschilds, whose scale might be ten trillion, or perhaps twenty trillion. However, the incident where my grandfather's family was attacked made me suddenly realize that this world might differ from my consistent understanding."

Fei Kexin asked hurriedly: "Do you mean there exists something even more powerful in this world than the Rothschild family?"

Ye Chen smiled slightly, did not answer her question, but instead asked her: "What do you think we should use to measure the strength of a family or an organization?"

Fei Kexin thought for a moment and said earnestly: "A comprehensive consideration of manpower, material resources, and financial resources, but financial resources should be the most important."

Ye Chen nodded: "I also used to think financial resources were the most important. After all, the rankings of global enterprises and wealthy individuals are all measured by money."

Having said this, Ye Chen suddenly changed his tone and said seriously: "However, I am suddenly thinking of a question: if for a family, money has long since become so abundant that it has no other meaning besides being a number, what would they continue to do?"

Fei Kexin asked blankly: "Mr. Ye, what do you mean?"

Ye Chen said: "Look, the wealthy people or wealthy families we usually come into contact with, the thing they love most is making money with money. Just like the Jewish people, they are born to make money, and they are born to use money to make more money. This leads them to only like spending money where it can appreciate and bring greater wealth. As a result, they are completely blinded by money."

Having said this, Ye Chen added: "If a family has long since seen through that excessive money is nothing more than a numbers game, and thus truly spends money in those purely consumptive directions, or places where it cannot be reflected by specific value at all, what would that bring?"

"Pure consumption..." Fei Kexin frowned and thought for a while, still somewhat puzzled, and said awkwardly: "Mr. Ye, I still don't quite understand. Could you explain further?"

Ye Chen said earnestly: "Let's take the simplest example. The Rothschild family's assets of over ten trillion US dollars are all placed in industries that can reflect value, such as investing in stones and mines; investing in listed companies among the world's top 500, or directly establishing banks, lending money to other enterprises through banks in exchange for high interest or even equity;"

"Even if this money is spent, it can still be counted as their own; it is nothing more than a form of asset conversion. For example, if I have 100 million US dollars in cash, and then spend 50 million US dollars to buy a luxury mansion in New York, then my total assets become 50 million in cash and 50 million in fixed assets..."

"Or, I exchange 20 million US dollars for houses, 20 million for stocks, 20 million for 20% ownership of an oil well, 20 million for a painting by a famous artist, and then keep 20 million in cash as liquidity. In this way, although I have spent 80 million US dollars, in reality, I am just holding it in a different form, and it may even continue to appreciate in the future;"

Having said this, Ye Chen changed the subject and added: "However, what if I take 80 million out of this 100 million and use it to cultivate a group of unknown dead soldiers? This 80 million US dollars is converted into combat power; who would know? Others measuring my assets would think I only have 20 million US dollars. But if I am willing, these dead soldiers I spent 80 million US dollars to create could easily slaughter ten so-called wealthy people who possess 100 million US dollars in assets."

Hearing this, Fei Kexin associated it with the incident that happened to Ye Chen's grandfather and grandmother's family some time ago, and suddenly realized something. She said in horror: "Mr. Ye, I understand what you mean... You are saying that perhaps some top families have long since transcended the stage of using accumulated wealth to show off their strength. On the contrary, they may have already converted astronomical amounts of funds into unexpectedly powerful combat strength?"

"Yes." Ye Chen nodded: "This is a bottomless concept. Take me, for example. In the past few months, the funds I have directly and indirectly invested in the Wanlong Palace have already far exceeded ten billion;"

"This money hasn't even passed through my hands, and the combat power formed by the Wanlong Palace will not be calculated into net worth for wealthy rankings;"

"If in a few more years, the funds I invest in the Wanlong Palace, or other similar organizations, exceed one hundred billion, or even one trillion, but my own verifiable assets are only one hundred billion, then in the eyes of others, I might just be a billionaire. But my true strength, I am afraid, even a trillionaire cannot compare to."

Having said this, Ye Chen added: "The mysterious organization that assassinated my grandfather's family has likely been cultivating dead soldiers for two or three hundred years, and they have cultivated an unknown number of dead soldiers all over the world."

"These two or three hundred years, their investment in dead soldiers is definitely an extremely terrifying astronomical figure!"

"But these figures cannot be included in the wealthy rankings either."

"Perhaps the funds they have invested in combat power over these hundreds of years, converted into the purchasing power of today's US dollars, might be even higher than the total assets of the entire Rothschild family. Therefore, if one only looks at assets, one might not even discover the tip of the iceberg of such a family."

"Facing such an invisible giant, what does the so-called famous Rothschild family count for? When this mysterious organization doesn't want to move them, they are the world's number one family; when they want to move them, they are the world's number one victim!" ===== CHAPTER 2290 =====