The chaos consuming his family was a distant storm, observed with the detached interest of a god on a mountaintop. Raj's days were no longer about watching his enemies suffer; they were about building. His new companies—Titan Security, Apex Media, Nexus AI, and Global-Trans Logistics—were a powerful but disjointed collection of assets. He needed to unite them, to forge them into a single, cohesive weapon. He needed a headquarters. An empire needed a throne room.
As if on cue, his daily check-in delivered.
[ Daily Check-in Complete. ]
[ Reward Received: The Aethelgard Tower (Mumbai Financial District) ]
[ Bonus Reward: ₹10,00,00,000 (Ten Crore Indian Rupees) ]
[ New Skill Unlocked: Sovereign's Aura (Passive) ]
Raj's eyes widened at the first reward. Not an apartment, but an entire skyscraper. A sixty-story marvel of modern architecture, now legally his. The second reward was a staggering amount of capital. But it was the third that truly changed the game.
[ Skill: Sovereign's Aura (Passive) - The host exudes an aura of natural authority and charisma. Those with weaker wills perceive the host as more mature, trustworthy, and powerful. Commands are more likely to be followed without question. ]
This skill was the key. The bridge between the ghost 'Mr. R' and the boy Raj. It was the tool that would allow him to step out of the shadows.
Meanwhile, in the brightly lit offices of Nexus AI, a young analyst named Anya Sharma stared at her screen, a frown on her face. She was one of the brightest minds in the company, a prodigy in pattern recognition and AI behavior. For the past week, she had been running deep diagnostics on their network since the new owner, 'Mr. R', had taken over.
She found something fascinating. There were no traces of a hack, no foreign code. But there were… whispers. Elegant, impossibly efficient data requests and command executions moving through their system with a perfection that no human programmer could achieve. It was like watching the footsteps of a god walking through their digital hallways. Her colleagues saw nothing, but she saw it clearly. An intelligent, invisible entity was living in their network.
Intrigued, she filed a confidential report to the new management, flagging the anomaly not as a threat, but as a "hyper-efficient, unknown operational entity."
In his penthouse, Raj saw Anya's report pop up. He was impressed. He had routed his Digital Phantom skill through Nexus AI's servers to amplify its power, assuming no one would ever notice. This woman had.
He activated Eye of Scrutiny on her employee file.
[ Name: Anya Sharma | Age: 24 ]
[ Emotional State: Intensely Curious, Professionally Ambitious ]
[ Intention towards Host: Uncover the identity of the 'network ghost' out of pure intellectual challenge. ]
She wasn't a threat. She was an asset. A brilliant mind to be cultivated. He decided to test her.
Using an internal communication channel, he sent her a direct message, his identity masked as a "Special Projects Coordinator." He used his real voice, no longer needing the modulator. The Sovereign's Aura skill wrapped around his words, giving them a weight and authority that defied his years.
"Ms. Sharma," he began, his voice calm and commanding. "Your report on the network anomaly was… insightful. I have a task for you. I want a complete predictive analysis of the structural weaknesses within the Mathur Group's entire corporate structure. You have twenty-four hours."
Anya was taken aback by the impossible demand. Such an analysis would take a team of experts weeks. But the voice on the other end held an undeniable authority that made refusal seem unthinkable. Fueled by adrenaline and curiosity, she accepted the challenge.
For the next 24 hours, she worked in a feverish trance, using Nexus AI's predictive models and her own intuitive genius. She cross-referenced shipping data, market trends, and PR sentiment. The result was a stunningly accurate report that detailed the very vulnerabilities Raj had been exploiting. Her conclusion was chilling: "The recent misfortunes of the Mathur Group are not random. They appear to be part of a coordinated, multi-pronged, and highly intelligent assault."
She sent the report and waited, her heart pounding.
The reply came moments later. "Excellent work. The owner is impressed. He wishes to meet you. In person." An address was provided: The Aethelgard Tower.
Anya arrived at the skyscraper, her jaw dropping at its sheer scale. The massive, opulent lobby was completely empty, echoing with silence. It felt like a temple waiting for its deity.
In the center of the vast, sunlit atrium stood a lone figure. He was a boy, no older than fifteen or sixteen, dressed in simple but well-fitting clothes. He turned to face her.
Anya opened her mouth to ask if he was lost, but the words died in her throat. As his eyes met hers, her professional skepticism vanished, replaced by an involuntary sense of deference. The boy's presence filled the entire hall. It was not the presence of a child, but of an old, powerful soul. It was the same undeniable authority she had heard in the voice on the call.
The boy offered a small, knowing smile.
"Ms. Sharma," Raj said, his voice echoing slightly in the empty space. "I'm 'Mr. R'. Welcome to my headquarters."