On the second day, the price of Zephyr Slime Gel rose to 2,500 gold coins per liter.
On the third day, it climbed to 3,000.
On the fourth day—after all the futures in Tina's hands had been sold—the price had already reached 3,500 gold coins per liter.
Although the growth over these three days was far slower than the explosive surge of the first day, the enthusiasm of the speculators camped inside the Merchants' Guild did not diminish in the slightest.
At the same time, this meant that Tina's losses on the futures alone had already reached 51.7 million gold coins. The margin she had paid was no longer enough to cover her losses.
Even the Guild's stewards came to see her, intending to enforce the contract and require her to make up the shortfall in margin.
Only after Tina produced twenty thousand liters of gel as collateral did they finally breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, a loss on this scale was not easy for the Merchants' Guild to handle either.
Futures trading here was still primitive. There was no leverage mechanism.
Anyone who purchased futures had to wait until the agreed settlement date to close their position. Settlement was primarily conducted through physical delivery. The only way to avoid delivering goods was to sell the contract before the settlement date.
But under normal circumstances, no one would take over an obviously losing contract—
Especially not one involving more than fifty million gold coins.
However, this primitive trading model had its advantages. At the very least, before the settlement date, the Guild had no authority to force Tina to close her position simply because her margin had been wiped out.
They only had the right to demand additional margin from her.
As long as Tina could guarantee delivery of the corresponding goods on the settlement date, they had no grounds to pursue her further.
And since she had provided sufficient physical collateral, if she wished, she could even reclaim her margin.
That put the steward completely at ease regarding the matter.
Yet just as he was about to leave, Tina called him back.
"Miss Tina, do you have further instructions?"
Because Tina had directly provided physical collateral, the steward's attitude toward her had grown even more respectful.
But Tina did not respond immediately. Instead, she walked to a corner of the warehouse and waved her hand again.
Beside the original twenty thousand liters of gel, more barrels began stacking up.
She did not stop until the Guild's warehouse was filled to the brim.
"I still have fifty-seven thousand barrels of gel," she said calmly. "I intend to release them all into the gel market."
The steward stared at the now-packed warehouse and listened to her words. His throat suddenly felt unbearably dry.
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but his burning throat would not allow a single word to come out.
At this moment, the girl standing before him felt like a devil from legend.
How much gel did the market currently hold? Seven thousand liters? Eight thousand?
Even including the futures market, perhaps only around one hundred thousand liters in total.
Yet this girl had produced an amount equal to half the circulating supply.
What did that mean?
If all of it were listed at once, the gel market would collapse instantly.
The speculators who had poured their entire fortunes into gel would be ruined.
Who knew how many more bodies would float in the Savent River once the bubble burst?
And yet—for some reason—the steward felt an inexplicable thrill rising in his heart.
As someone from Ymir City, he did not care in the slightest about the lives of Savent's merchants.
If possible, he even wanted to get involved himself and secure financial freedom.
In the past, he had never dared to manipulate trades using his position within the Guild. On one hand, there had been no suitable opportunity. On the other, the punishment if discovered was severe.
If caught, he would not only face Guild sanctions but also legal consequences.
But at worst, that meant living for ten years in a government-issued "small room" in Ymir City, wearing a pair of delicate little bracelets.
In exchange, he could obtain lifelong financial freedom.
What could possibly be more worthwhile than that?
He immediately resolved that before helping Tina sell the gel, he would invest every gold coin he had accumulated over thirty years into gel futures.
However, just as he was about to act, Tina's voice stopped him.
"If all this gel floods into the market at once, it will inevitably cause a complete collapse.
"So if I want to maximize my returns, I must release it gradually, in batches.
"The Guild's trading procedures are rather complex. Conducting many small transactions would be difficult for anyone outside the Guild staff.
"And achieving this effect won't be easy.
"So, to obtain greater profits, I require a professional to assist me with precise, controlled operations."
With that, Tina withdrew two pre-prepared contracts from her spatial ring and handed them to him.
"This is a temporary employment contract. If you're willing, you may work for me temporarily to handle the subsequent listing adjustments until all fifty-seven thousand barrels are sold.
"But you must complete the sale within three days.
"In return, I will pay you 0.02% of the total revenue, calculated based on the highest market price.
"In other words, your final compensation depends entirely on the price at which you can sell this gel."
The steward swallowed hard.
His trembling hands opened the contract. His eyes immediately locked onto the purchase price of the gel.
In that instant, his eyes widened dramatically.
The document clearly stated—
3 gold coins per liter.
Which meant Tina had likely begun purchasing massive quantities of gel long before the market frenzy began.
In fact, the severe shortage in Savent's market was probably because most of the circulating supply had already been bought up by Tina.
And since her acquisition cost had been so low, once this batch was sold, the principal would be negligible compared to the astronomical revenue she stood to gain.
The steward's mind—naturally attuned to numbers—began calculating at lightning speed.
Subtracting the principal of 171,000 gold coins—
Even if the average selling price was a relatively conservative 1,000 gold coins per liter—
Her final revenue would still reach 113.83 million gold coins.