[The Pantheon - The Global Boardroom]
The holographic table displayed a map of Earth. But instead of cities or borders, it showed Heat Maps. Bright red zones covered Colombia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Brazil. Coffee.
Alex stood at the head of the table. Sitting before him were the holographic projections of the CEOs of the world's largest coffee chains: Star Café, Global-Nest, and Fair-Trade Alliance.
They looked confused. "Mr. Alex," the CEO of Star Café spoke up nervously. "You summoned us? Is this about the alien invasion? The giant golden shield?"
"In a way," Alex said, sliding a digital contract across the table. "I am acquiring your companies."
"Excuse me?" The CEO laughed nervously. "We are not for sale. Star Café has 30,000 locations. We are a cultural icon."
"You are a logistics bottleneck," Alex corrected him. "I don't care about your lattes or your pumpkin spice. I care about your Supply Chain. I need every bean you have in your warehouses. Raw. Unroasted. Immediately."
[The Hostile Takeover]
"This is preposterous!" The Global-Nest CEO stood up. "You can't just buy the entire global coffee market! It would cost..."
"Trillions?" Alex interrupted. "I know."
Alex tapped the table. [System Action: Hostile Takeover.] [Target: Global Coffee Industry (All Publicly Traded Assets).] [Cost: $2.5 Trillion USD.]
PING. Every phone in the room buzzed. The CEOs looked down. [Notification: Majority Shareholder Change. New Owner: The Pantheon Group.]
"I just bought 51% of your stock," Alex said calmly. "Sit down. You work for me now."
The room went silent. The most powerful food executives in the world had just been demoted to middle management in ten seconds.
[The Logistics]
"Here is the new directive," Alex pointed at the map. "Stop selling to humans. Close every café. Cancel every supermarket shipment."
"Sir?" The Star Café CEO trembled. "If we stop selling to people... there will be riots. People need their morning coffee."
"Let them drink tea," Alex said ruthlessly. "Every single bean is now designated for Export. I want 1,000 tons of Arabica shipped to the Neo-Atlantis Spaceport by midnight."
"1,000 tons?!"
"If you miss the deadline," Alex's eyes flashed gold, "I will liquidate your pensions."
[The Export]
[12 Hours Later - Neo-Atlantis Spaceport]
The tarmac was busy. Massive cargo drones, usually used for tanks, were lifting shipping containers painted in black and gold. The smell of raw coffee beans was overpowering. It smelled like money.
"Galactic Market Update," Dawn reported. "The Auditor has listed a 'Bulk Buy Order' for the Intergalactic Banking Guild. Quantity: 100 Tons. Price: 1,500 GC per kg."
Alex did the math in his head. 100,000 kilograms * 1,500 GC. Total Revenue: 150,000,000 GC.
"That pays off the shield debt," Alex smiled. "And leaves us with enough profit to buy a small moon."
[The Visitor]
The sky rumbled. The Black Monolith returned, puncturing the clouds above the Aegis Shield. The Auditor's hologram appeared on the tarmac.
"Human," The Auditor's voice was twitchy. "Do you have the... product?"
Alex gestured to the mountain of containers. "100 Tons. High-Grade. As promised."
The Auditor's eye twitched. "Excellent. My superiors are... anxious. The data-processing centers are slowing down without the stimulant."
"Load it up," Alex ordered the drones.
As the containers floated into the alien ship, Alex checked his System Panel. The red debt number (-500,000 GC) vanished. It was replaced by a staggering green number.
[Current Balance: 149,500,000 GC.]
"Dawn," Alex turned away from the ship. "We're rich."
"What is your next order, Sir?"
Alex looked at the stars. "We have defense. We have money. Now we need an army that can fight in space."
"Open the Mercenary Guild tab."