A month passed. The name Mathur was now a footnote in the annals of business history, a ghost haunting the archives of financial news. R-Corp, under the brilliant and ruthlessly efficient leadership of CEO Anya Sharma, had fully absorbed the assets, rebranding and restructuring them into a powerful, unified machine.
But for Raj, the silence of victory was deafening. The fire of revenge that had fueled him for so long had been extinguished, leaving behind a cold, hollow void. The new quest—achieve a $1 trillion valuation—felt abstract, a number without a soul. He was an emperor with a vast domain but no purpose.
He found one in the ashes of his past.
"Anya," he said one morning, standing before the panoramic window of his office. "The old Mathur Estate in Ludhiana. I want you to liquidate it."
"Of course, Mr. R," she replied. "We can sell the land to developers for a significant profit."
"No," Raj said, turning to face her. "Demolish the house. On the land, I want you to build the first chapter of a new charitable foundation. It will be called 'The Phoenix Foundation,' and it will be a state-of-the-art home and school for orphaned and abandoned children. Spare no expense."
Anya stared at him, surprised. This was the first directive that wasn't about profit or power. Eye of Scrutiny showed her his intention was genuine, though layered with a thick coating of final, poetic irony. It was a masterstroke—a PR coup for R-Corp and the ultimate desecration of his parents' memory.
"It will be done," she said with a nod of deep respect.
Satisfied, Raj turned to his daily check-in, wondering what the System would provide for a king without a war.
[ Daily Check-in Complete. ]
[ Reward Received: Ownership of the 'Argus Satellite Constellation' ]
[ System Note: The Argus Constellation consists of 72 private, low-orbit satellites providing real-time, high-resolution global imaging, surveillance, and secure, untraceable communication. ]
Raj's eyes widened. This was not a tool for corporate takeovers. This was a tool for global dominance. He now had eyes and ears anywhere on the planet.
Anya's next report was troubling. "Mr. R, we've hit a snag. Our planned acquisition of a major German robotics firm was blocked. Another buyer swept in and purchased the entire company overnight for double its market value."
"Who?" Raj asked.
"That's the problem," Anya said, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Nexus AI can't trace them. The money trail is a ghost. It weaves through centuries-old private banks and anonymous trusts. The buyer has no digital footprint. They operate on a level of wealth and secrecy that makes our operations look like child's play."
Before Raj could respond, a notification appeared on Anya's secure terminal. It was a message, sent through a protocol so archaic and heavily encrypted that even Nexus AI struggled to crack it. The message was simple.
Your rapid growth has been noted. The world has rules established long before your arrival. We would like to discuss them.
— The Meridian Council
Raj felt a jolt of genuine excitement for the first time since his revenge had ended. He focused his will, linking his Digital Phantom skill with his new Argus satellite network. He searched not for a company, but for the name: The Meridian Council.
The information that flowed into his mind was staggering. The Council wasn't a corporation. It was a secret cabal, a shadow alliance of the world's oldest and most powerful families—families whose wealth was measured not in billions, but in generations of control over nations, markets, and wars. They were the true architects of the modern world, the invisible hands that guided history. They were the planet's original "system."
And he had just appeared as a critical error on their screen.
Anya looked at him, her expression grim. "This is beyond R-Corp. This is another level of power entirely. They're inviting us to a meeting. What do we do?"
Raj walked to a global map projected on his wall. Using the Argus network, he began pinpointing the locations of the Council's hidden estates, their private islands, their mountain retreats. He was seeing the secret geography of the world's true rulers.
A slow, competitive smile touched his lips. The hollow feeling was gone, replaced by the exhilarating thrill of a new, infinitely more challenging game.
"We accept their invitation, of course," Raj said, his eyes glowing with a renewed sense of purpose.
"It's time they met the new management."