章節 86: 86. Happy’s Small Wish
Happy looked at Rambo. 'The character was played by the same actor, but I'm sure it wasn't the same individual. How did this all come together here, then?'
"You work for a kid, Rambo?" A mocking voice came from the crowd.
Rambo rubbed his eyes with his fingers as if frustrated. "The 'kid' is one of the richest men in the world. This 'kid' here is the one who is trying to make a decent difference. Now, all of you can make a decision. Do you want to make the big bucks being the bad guy or make it while being the good guy?"
Of course, they had all served in wars and would love to do some good for the world and perhaps gain some redemption for their souls.
"What's the job?" Lee Christmas asked, a smart-looking man with a good build. "You only told us it's in Africa, but what is it?"
Rambo received a nod from Happy and turned around to discuss with the team. "Everyone… Mr. Lestrange here tried to feed multiple African nations and eliminate hunger. But the nations have corrupt governments or warlords who don't want things to change. Even if Mr. Lestrange here sells the food dirt cheap, they ain't buying—because poor folks mean desperate workers—ready to do anything for chump change.
"Our first mission is to enter Burundi and…"
"Kill them?" Gunner questioned.
"No." Rambo continued and went to a side table to pick up a toy horse. "We infiltrate their vaults. Belonging to generals, warlords, or politicians—and leave this toy behind. That's it. Our job is done—any questions?"
"..."
"A million, yes." Trent Mauser, a slightly aged man, voiced. "What are those toys?"
Rambo pointed at Happy. "He's one of those magic folks."
All gazes turned toward Happy with newfound interest. Of course, they knew about wizards after serving in various special forces and having come across too many things that weren't explainable.
"The laws restrict him from meddling in human affairs," Trent said. "If we're caught, we'll all have our memories erased, and this boy will be thrown into his people's prison."
Happy smiled and suddenly chirped. "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys. My Grandma is the President of MACUSA, basically, the President of the magical side of the United States, and my Grandpa is the Governor of New York… and I come from a long line of French royalty, and…"
"Let's do it!" Old man Trent instantly changed his mind. "A rich man wants to do something good for once. We ain't sitting back."
Rambo continued briefing. "If things go south, we have another guy; Codenamed Green—ready to extract us. He's one of those guys."
"Sweet! Finally, we're gonna taste the exciting side of the world!" Hale Caesar exclaimed. "When do we go?"
"Fifth of January. Until then, we need to prepare and gather any further intelligence we can." Rambo dismissed the team and walked over to Happy.
Happy shook hands with the man. "You've changed a lot… I thought you were more of a loner."
"I still am, but with them…" Rambo said. "...I feel at home."
'This world is a hot pot of messed up timelines and IPs. I hope no supervillain from James Bond shows up now… But it'd be sweet, not gonna lie.' Happy muttered to himself, an unhealthy habit he found himself nurturing.
"That's good to hear, Rambo. The payment to the team's account will be made by tonight. As for any other expenses, you can contact Mr. Chris here. Once we're done with Burundi, start looking at other similar neighboring nations right away—I don't want to wait for too long."
"Understood, boss."
"Ugh!" Happy felt a shudder in his body. "Just call me Happy, old man."
Rambo squinted his eyes and nodded. "Likewise… Just call me Rambo."
"Hehe… Got it. I'll see you later then. Need to deal with something else for now." Happy decided to head out after that. He didn't want to always come into physical contact with them, as it left loose ends.
Happy got into Chris' luxury Mercedes and let the man drive him. Chris hadn't spoken for a while, and his thoughts were kind of obvious from his face.
"Go ahead, ask."
"What magic?!" Chris blurted. "What magic were they talking about? Your grandmother is the President? And you're the grandson of Governor Roosevelt?... You're royalty?!"
Happy chuckled. "Yes for that grandson part, but adopted, and yes on that royalty part. As for magic, ask yourself, Chris. Why does the world still remain hungry?"
"Because of greed and not enough food?" Chris said.
"Yes and no." Happy refuted. "Yes, people are greedy, and they'd rather throw the food away than sell it cheap. But, the fact that it isn't enough is a lie. We produce enough food to feed the world twice the size. But the problem is our food systems – the way we produce, harvest, transport, process, market, and consume food.
"You know, eighty percent of the food we eat is produced by smallholder farmers around the world. They don't have a good enough chain of supplies, and they also remain mired in poverty and face more challenges with the constantly changing climates of military conflicts.
"But somehow, I can transport all the food around the world with ease, without even using any large cargo ships—how?"
Chris gulped. "M-Magic?... What are you, Mr. Lestrange?"
"Are you sure you want to know that? If the magic regulating authorities find out, they'll wipe your memory and throw me into wizard prison, as those guys said."
Chris started to sweat. He had a son, after all. "I… I won't talk about it with anyone, Mr. Lestrange. I don't even want to know the answer… I just want to know… Is what you're doing sustainable in the long term?"
"Yes, and no." Happy said. "My main end goal is to create better supply lines around the world using magic so farming produce isn't wasted in any sort of transportation. At the same time, I'm working on developing better seeds that are more resilient, consume less water, and yield greater harvest—once we have that, we will enter the real agriculture business with a little bit of magic for supply lines."
Chris nodded his head continuously while driving. "That makes… sense, why you asked me to buy as much land as possible around the world, even if it's in the middle of nowhere—I've already bought fifty thousand acres in Texas, and more are in progress. The land is very cheap there."
"Buy everything, anything you can get—anywhere around the world. We have too much cash anyway. Also, keep investing and buy shares or the companies themselves—but as investors, not managers. Spread the arms and legs of the Lestrange Investment Bank around the globe—-enter the energy market as well, but only the renewable ones. Look into battery technologies, buy companies or patents if there are any—solar farming tech as well."
Chris rubbed his hands on the steering wheel as it felt too sweaty. "Sir, may I know what your end goal is?"
"To be so rich that I can tell nations to do or not do some things—Once there's peace and a lot of food, the world will be happy and eat great stuff—just like me. I used to think about what I should do with my powers and wealth before—at first, I was happy with being selfish, but then I realized, won't it be a waste? It's not as if this work takes all my time—So if I can change things, why not?"
Chris sighed and parked the car near Happy's apartment building. "Mr. Lestrange, nobody thinks like that."
"What do you mean?"
"I… I've met a lot of rich folks, and all they talk about is gathering capital, multiplying their assets, or investing here and there… this is the first time I'm hearing someone say they want to create peace with their wealth—not more wealth."
Happy smiled and shook Chris' hand. "Thanks for the kind words, Chris. Now go home and spend some time with your son. Tell him Merry Christmas for me."
"You too… Mr. Lestrange… I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family. Your parents must be very proud."
Happy sighed and looked up at the moonlit sky. "I don't have anyone left to make proud… Not in this world, Chris. See you later."
Happy entered the building while humming to himself, wondering what his real mom and dad were doing right now.
'I hope Grandpa God sees all this and…'
Happy, in the end, was still just a boy. He also had a motive behind doing all the good things he was trying to do. He hoped to receive a small blessing in the future, maybe—a blessing to be able to see his dear mom and dad again… just once.
'Better get back to Flamels. They get worried for me too quickly.'
Woosh!
A faint light flickered in the massive, expensive apartment, and Happy teleported away.
…
However, what he didn't know was that his words left poor Chris so shocked that he remained standing beside his car for a few long minutes.
"Changing the world? The words came from a kid—but felt so convincing… Chris, it seems you've found the company you're going to spend your whole life working at."
BAM!
"Hey!"
All of a sudden, a white man in a business suit appeared and bumped into Chris. The man seemed drunk and disoriented.
"Hey… Are you alright?" Chris, being a good man, helped him stand up. "You lost?"
"Ummmh… I… I fuck. Where am I… Yes, I'm looking for the kid…!"
Chris became alert. "What kid?"
"That! That rich fucking brat… with so much money… Take it… Takhit, Take my company… Jordan Belfort lost… Kid! Where are youh…? Imma be your slave… just gimme my moneyyy!"
Bam!
Once again, the man fell, this time passing out.
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