The email went out at 8:07 AM.
Company-wide.
No urgency tag.
No warning.
Just a clean subject line:
Notice of Internal Compliance Review – Advisory Roles
Leon read it once.
That was all he needed.
Horizon Group didn't accuse people directly.
It created conditions.
Conditions where standing still became suspicious.
Leon arrived at the building thirty minutes later than usual.
Intentionally.
The lobby felt different.
Eyes lingered longer.
Conversations paused when he passed.
The neutrality he'd carefully maintained was evaporating.
Liu Wen met him outside a small conference room.
"Walk with me," he said quietly.
They moved down the corridor.
"This review wasn't my idea," Liu Wen said. "But it's happening."
Leon nodded. "Because someone wants clarity."
"Because someone wants blood," Liu Wen corrected.
Leon stopped walking.
"Luo Ming," he said.
Liu Wen didn't deny it.
"He pushed for formalization," Liu Wen continued. "Advisor roles. Disclosure requirements. Outside interests."
Leon smiled faintly.
"So he's forcing me to choose."
"Yes," Liu Wen said. "Inside… or out."
Leon looked at him.
"And what do you want?"
Liu Wen hesitated.
Then spoke carefully.
"I want stability," he said. "And I want plausible deniability."
Leon understood perfectly.
The meeting room was already occupied.
Legal. Compliance. Two directors Leon hadn't met before.
And Luo Ming.
He didn't hide his satisfaction.
"Leon Zhao," Luo Ming said pleasantly. "Thank you for coming."
Leon took a seat without responding.
The compliance officer spoke first.
"This is a standard disclosure review," she said. "All advisors are required to declare external holdings or interests that may conflict with Horizon operations."
Leon leaned back.
"And if they don't?" he asked.
"Then we reassess their position," she replied.
Luo Ming smiled. "Transparency protects everyone."
Leon met his gaze.
"Only when applied evenly," Leon said.
Luo Ming's smile tightened.
Leon's system interface flickered violently.
[Critical Decision Point Detected]
[Option A:] Conceal External Leverage – Maintain Institutional Cover
[Option B:] Partial Disclosure – Controlled Exposure
[Option C:] Assert Dominance – Override Institutional Pressure
[Warning:]
Choice will permanently alter influence trajectory.
The room waited.
Leon didn't rush.
He glanced at Luo Ming, then at the directors.
"You're asking the wrong question," Leon said calmly.
The compliance officer frowned. "Excuse me?"
Leon leaned forward slightly.
"You're asking what I own," he said. "When you should be asking what I prevented."
Silence followed.
Leon tapped the table once.
"Yesterday's procurement audit could've exposed three routing failures," Leon continued. "One of which would've triggered a logistics breach across two subsidiaries."
The directors stiffened.
Luo Ming's eyes narrowed.
Leon turned his gaze to him.
"You know exactly which one," Leon said.
Luo Ming said nothing.
Leon looked back to the room.
"I didn't disclose my leverage," Leon said. "Because I used it to protect Horizon."
That landed.
Not cleanly.
But heavily.
Liu Wen spoke.
"Is that true?" he asked.
Leon met his eyes.
"Check East River Depot," Leon said. "Six months dormant. Reactivated in under an hour. Ask why."
Legal's fingers moved quickly across a tablet.
A pause.
Then:
"…It checks out."
The room shifted.
Luo Ming leaned forward.
"So you admit external manipulation," he said sharply.
Leon smiled.
"I admit competence," he replied.
Luo Ming's voice hardened. "This company doesn't tolerate uncontrollable actors."
Leon nodded once.
"Then control me," he said.
Silence crashed down.
No one moved.
Because everyone understood the problem.
Leon wasn't refusing authority.
He was offering results.
The system chimed—slow, deliberate.
[Decision Registered:]
Partial Disclosure – Controlled Exposure
[Institutional Pressure Reduced]
[Hidden Authority Cap Increased]
[Authority Points +10]
The compliance officer cleared her throat.
"We'll… note this as provisional," she said. "Further review pending."
Luo Ming sat back, jaw tight.
He had forced a confrontation.
And lost ground.
Leon stood.
"If there are no further questions," he said, "I have work to do."
No one stopped him.
Not even Luo Ming.
Outside the building, Mei Lin's message waited.
MEI LIN:
Horizon just flinched.
Leon replied:
Leon:
They blinked.
That's different.
He slipped the phone into his pocket.
Inside Horizon, he was no longer neutral.
Outside, he was no longer invisible.
And somewhere above them all—
A higher level of power had just taken notice.