The decade that followed the Great War, known to history as the Roaring Twenties, was for the Hemsworth Conglomerate not a period of reckless abandon, but one of disciplined, systematic expansion. The war had proven Damon's model was sound; the peace would prove it was unstoppable. With the world on the mend and consumer confidence soaring, Damon directed his empire with the cold, precise hand of a surgeon, leveraging the war's immense profits to solidify his control over every pillar.
Thorne Motors became a global powerhouse. The re-tooled factories were a marvel of industrial efficiency, producing cars at a pace that astounded competitors. The T-Model was a massive success, but Damon had a grander vision. In 1923, he ordered Thorne to develop a new model, the Hemsworth A, which would be the first car in the world to be designed for international production. The A was built with interchangeable parts that could be assembled in factories around the world. Damon used the war profits to build new Thorne factories in France, Germany, and the UK, using the same blueprints. By 1925, the sight of a Hemsworth A car was becoming common on both sides of the Atlantic. The profits from this global expansion were not repatriated; they were held in foreign subsidiaries, a brilliant move that would later shield the Conglomerate from the coming economic storm in the US.
The Hemsworth Mercantile retail chain also expanded at a staggering pace. Damon's initial Volume Depots were upgraded into large, standardized, and more attractive stores. The secret to their success remained the same: logistics. The vast network of Thorne trucks and Hemsworth-controlled rail lines ensured that shelves were always stocked and prices were always low. The company also became the first in the nation to fully adopt the cash register, a technology Damon had acquired a patent for, which allowed for precise, real-time tracking of sales. Damon knew that the real power in retail was not in the goods, but in the data of what people were buying, where, and for how much. He used this data to anticipate trends and manage his inventory with unparalleled efficiency.
The two newest pillars, Airlines and Semiconductors, finally began to emerge from the shadows of R&D and into the public eye.
In 1926, the Vance Air Transport company won its first major government contract: the Air Mail Act. The U.S. government, finally recognizing the strategic importance of air travel, had opened up bids for private companies to transport mail. While other companies struggled to build fleets from scratch, Vance had a team of experienced pilots and mechanics, an invaluable database of routes, and a new generation of aircraft, the Hemsworth Condor, that was larger, more reliable, and faster than any of its competitors. The Condor was not just a plane; it was a testament to the Conglomerate's foresight. It was built with a Thorne-designed engine and its parts were shipped using Hemsworth Logistics. The company's profitability soared, and Damon immediately began planning for the next phase: passenger travel.
The most revolutionary, and still the most secretive, of all the Conglomerate's pillars was Hemsworth Labs. The war had provided the perfect cover for its foundational research. Now, with the world clamoring for new forms of entertainment, Damon ordered Dr. Elias to build a new prototype: a small, affordable radio receiver. Unlike the massive, clunky radios of the day that were more furniture than electronics, the Hemsworth radio was simple, compact, and easy to use. The secret was a new vacuum tube, designed with the patents acquired from the war effort, that was smaller, more efficient, and cheaper to produce. The first models were a sensation, and Damon immediately began a mass production campaign. The public had no idea that the technology that was entertaining them was the first step on the road to computers and the microchip.
Arthur Hemsworth watched his son's empire-building with a mix of awe and trepidation. Damon, now in his early twenties, was no longer a boy; he was a cold, calculating man who had seen the future and was determined to bend the world to his will. The moral ambiguity of his actions weighed on Arthur, but the sheer scale of the enterprise was too immense to stop. The family's wealth was now incalculable. They were no longer just a powerful financial family; they were an economic force unto themselves.
However, Damon knew that the boom of the twenties, fueled by credit and speculation, was a ticking time bomb. He had seen the future. The stock market was headed for a massive crash, one that would make the Panic of 1907 look like a minor blip. He had to prepare his empire for the coming Great Depression.
He began by orchestrating a series of quiet, almost invisible, moves to diversify away from the U.S. market. He ordered the Conglomerate's European profits to be invested in the reconstruction of Europe's infrastructure, lending to governments and companies in Germany, France, and Britain, securing long-term debt and assets in a stable market that was less prone to the speculative mania of Wall Street. He also ordered the stockpiling of strategic commodities—not just gold and oil, but also steel, rubber, and food—which would prove invaluable when the crash came.
The most controversial and difficult move was convincing his father to sell off a significant portion of their American stock holdings. "The market is a bubble, Father," Damon stated one evening, his eyes scanning the latest stock ticker. "It is fueled by debt and pure speculation. The price of these companies is disconnected from their real value. It is going to collapse. We must get out now. I want to liquidate seventy percent of our US holdings over the next year."
Arthur was aghast. "Seventy percent? Damon, the market is at an all-time high! The money is pouring in! It's a gold mine!"
"It is a gold mine that is about to flood," Damon countered, his voice firm. "I cannot tell you how I know this, but I do. The crash is coming, and it will be brutal. Our mission is not to make the last dollar on the top of the mountain, but to survive the fall and be in a position to buy the entire mountain at the bottom. We will sell high and buy low. It is the most profitable move we can make."
Arthur, having witnessed his son's prescience in 1907, relented. Over the next year, the Hemsworth Bank's traders were given the impossible task of selling off hundreds of millions of dollars in stock without causing a panic. They did it quietly, in small increments, often on days when the market was soaring. The other bankers on Wall Street thought Arthur had gone mad, missing out on the greatest bull market in history.
The final piece of Damon's plan was to acquire a struggling, yet strategically vital, asset: a chain of failing rural banks across the Midwest. The banks were small, and their assets were a patchwork of land deeds, farm loans, and small-town mortgages. The other financiers saw no value in them. But Damon knew that when the crash came, the rural economy, already struggling, would be the first to fail. The land would be repossessed, and a lot of it would be for sale for next to nothing. The Hemsworth Bank would be the one to buy it all, consolidating the land and controlling the agricultural supply chain.
By October 1929, the Hemsworth Conglomerate was a lean, disciplined machine. It had almost no exposure to the US stock market, held immense reserves in gold and cash, and had a foothold in nearly every major industry in the world. Damon was a shadow to the world, but within his empire, his word was law.
On October 24, 1929, Black Thursday hit. The stock market collapsed, wiping out billions. The crash was swift and brutal. The other titans of Wall Street watched in horror as their fortunes evaporated. But in the quiet, fireproof vault of the Hemsworth Bank, Arthur and Damon watched the ticker tape with a chilling sense of vindication. Their money was safe. In fact, their cash was more valuable than it had ever been.
As the country descended into the Great Depression, the Hemsworth Conglomerate was in a position of unprecedented power. The other businesses were desperate for liquidity, and Damon was prepared to give it to them, on his terms. The bank began to quietly buy up the debt of struggling, yet vital, corporations. Thorne Motors, shielded from the worst of the crash by its global sales and its European factories, began producing an even more affordable model of car, a godsend for a struggling nation. Hemsworth Mercantile, with its low prices, became the go-to for families struggling to make ends meet.
The world was in ruins, but the Hemsworth empire was thriving. The Great Depression, a tragedy for the nation, was for Damon Hemsworth a strategic windfall, a final consolidation of power that would make his dynasty invincible for the century to come.