Chapter 1167: Fighting for a Position

The term "Sicilians" does not refer to the native inhabitants of Sicily, Italy, but rather to an organization that existed between 100 and 200 BC. The "Sicily" here also refers to their weapons.

Anyone who's played the game "Assassin's Creed" will likely be familiar with the curved daggers there, known as "Sicilians." The black-clad gravekeepers in the movie "The Mummy" were also inspired by the historical image of "Sicilians."

However, in those days, "Sicilian" was not a compliment. "Sicilian" was regarded as the followers of Judas. Their goal was simple: to rebel against the Roman Catholic Church. Not only were they famous for large-scale raids, they also often hid Sicilian daggers in their clothes to carry out assassinations.

In 65 BC, they staged a riot in Jerusalem, but ultimately failed, which led to the decline of the "Sicilians" organization. The last record of them was that they attacked the ancient city of Masada, and then disappeared from history.

However, the term "Sicilians" has remained and now refers to all Jewish terrorists.

There are actually not many relics related to the "Sicilian". It would definitely be very rewarding to find such a shipwreck related to the "Sicilian".

As expected, William said cheerfully, "This salvage operation is funded by the Dutch royal family. Several museums are already interested in the findings on the ship. Xiao, this is a very good investment."

Xiao Peng curled his lips and said, "You found a ship full of 'Sicilian' relics and gave me a broken dagger. You are really generous."

William spread his hands and said, "Xiao, you have more money than me! Sometimes I think it's quite unfair. Our Dutch royal family has a history of nearly 500 years from William I to the present day, and the accumulated wealth is not as much as that of someone as young as you. This time I discovered that shipwrecks can be so profitable."

Xiao Peng laughed and said, "Come on. You can fool an outsider with this, but you can't fool me? Even if it's the 'Sicilian' shipwreck, even if it's fully loaded with artifacts, its value shouldn't exceed 50 million. The main partners here are the IHC Group and the Toulon Marine Institute. Your profit from this shipwreck won't exceed 5 million. Although it's a lot of money, I don't think it's a huge amount for you. If you really say you made a lot of money, the only possibility is that you made money in the capital market."

William laughed and said, "You are really cunning! Yes, I made a fortune in the capital market."

Xiao Peng curled his lips and said, "Don't you feel bad about cheating the common people and taking advantage of them like this?"

But William said, "It's better than virtual currency, right?"

Xiao Peng was stunned after hearing this: "As far as I know, you guys in the Netherlands don't ban virtual currencies, right?"

William laughed and said, "Whether it's banned or not, who doesn't know what virtual currency is? It seems so high-end with its calculation system and limited quantity, but what's the truth? All virtual currencies on the market are not under government regulation. All investment speculation is entirely subject to market regulation. As long as there is artificial speculation, it will inevitably collapse. Driving up a virtual currency to create a myth of wealth and encourage followers to leverage their investments is bound to end badly. This is a principle that almost everyone understands. In fact, we in the Netherlands have considered banning virtual currencies, but were met with widespread protests."

"Protests are normal," Xiao Peng said. "After all, you are a free country."

William shook his head and said, "No, after all, virtual currency is unregulated, making it the perfect 'safe haven' for money laundering and other financial crimes. And as you know, so-called politicians are basically capitalists, and this affects their interests, so they can't stop virtual currency activities. But I won't touch virtual currency. In fact, apart from some financial violations, most investors won't touch virtual currency."

"Why?" Xiao Peng was puzzled.

William asked in return, "Have you noticed a problem? Every time Daxia formulates a policy regarding virtual currency, the impact on virtual currency is particularly significant."

Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "Don't tell me it's true! Why is that?"

William explained, "Binance, the world's largest virtual currency exchange, was founded by Daxia people, and most of the top 20 exchanges were also founded by Daxia people. Therefore, in the virtual currency world, most of the people making the big money are Daxia people, and those mining and issuing coins are also mostly Daxia people. And because Daxia people participate the most, both those who lose money and those who become leeks are still mostly Daxia people. Things like Bitcoin may seem like they were created by us Westerners, but in fact, the players are basically Daxia people. Therefore, Daxia has formulated policies related to virtual currencies, which have the greatest impact on virtual currencies. And we all know this, so how can we possibly invest in virtual currencies? We can't be sure whether virtual currencies are financial instruments created by the Daxia government. So it's better to play it safe and try not to touch them!"

Xiao Peng laughed and said, "You're overthinking it. You don't understand us Daxia people. We love getting rich quickly, and virtual currency has the nature of getting rich quickly, so it's naturally popular."

William laughed and said, "Who doesn't like to get rich quickly? People here like it more, that's why I can make so much money from the financial market!"

Xiao Peng looked disgusted. "Now, many people in our country say that 'the Netherlands is very generous' for helping me this time. Tsk tsk, are you really doing this to help me? You are targeting the UK's financial market status, right?"

William laughed after hearing this: "See through it but don't say it. See through it but don't say it!"

London was once the financial center of Europe. Since Brexit, Europe needs to find a new financial core, and this country is the Netherlands. Currently, the Netherlands is the second largest financial country in Europe after the UK. The Netherlands' active crackdown on the UK this time is also aimed at seizing capital markets.

William concluded: "No matter what the purpose is! As long as the result is good, it's better than anything else! Xiao, are you right?"

Xiao Peng nodded: "You're right, a good result is better than anything else. Did you come here just for this dagger? Then I thank you on behalf of Pascal!"

William shook his head and said, "This is just one thing. In fact, there is another thing."

"There's one more thing?" Xiao Peng was puzzled. "What else?"

William said: "Abby called me."

Xiao Peng was a little embarrassed when he heard ‘Abby’: “Uh, Abby didn’t call me.”

William nodded: "Yeah. How could she call you when you two are like this? But her calling me is also related to you."

"It's related to me? What's the matter?" Xiao Peng was stunned.

William said, "It's nothing serious, it's just that someone broke into your house in Paris!"