Silas Vane didn't move for a long time. He stared at the Titan-Grip phone in his hands as if it were a bomb. Finally, he looked at me, his voice trembling. "You talk about billions as if they are pocket change. Who are you?"
"The man who is going to make sure no one ever betrays you again," I said. "But first, I need to know your price. How deep is the hole your family fell into?"
Silas looked away, his jaw tightening. "My family was framed by the Merchant Guild. They took everything. Our lands, our dignity. Total debt, including interest to the underground lenders? 760 million dollars. I'll be paying it off for ten lifetimes."
"You'll pay it off today," I said calmly.
I tapped a few buttons on my phone. The System interface hummed, and I authorized a transfer from my Void-Link account.
[Ding! Transfer Successful. $760,000,000.00 sent.]
[Cashback Triggered: $7,600,000,000,000.00 deposited!]
I nearly choked. Seven trillion? The more I spent on big targets, the more the world belonged to me.
"Check your messages, Silas," I said.
The man's phone chimed. He looked at it, and the blood drained from his face. He actually fell off the park bench, kneeling on the grass. "It's... it's gone. The debt. It's all paid. My family is free."
"That was just the debt," I said, standing up. "Your salary is 11 million dollars a year, plus bonuses based on how fast we grow. Now, get up. We have work to do."
The Target: Awiebo Refinery
As we walked toward the luxury district, I asked, "The Mana Refinery in Awiebo. My father works there. What's the status?"
Silas, ever the genius, didn't need to look at a report. "The Awiebo Refinery? It used to be a scrap heap. But three months ago, they discovered a high-grade mana mine on the outskirts of the Dungeon. Now? It's the crown jewel of the region. Current valuation is between 2 billion and 2.7 billion dollars."
"Good," I replied. "By the time I get to the village, I want the deed in my pocket. But we can't go there looking like this."
I took Silas to the same boutique I had visited earlier. I didn't just buy him a suit; I bought him a wardrobe fit for a Prime Minister.
"Next," I said, "we need a base of operations. Something secure. Something that screams power but stays hidden from the public eye."
We drove to the elite real estate district. I didn't look at apartments. I looked at fortresses.
"I want that one," I said, pointing to a sprawling estate on the cliffside. It was a massive mansion made of reinforced spirit-stone, equipped with its own mana-shield generator and a private bunker.
"Sir, that's the 'Ever-Watch' Estate," the realtor stammered, sweating as he looked at my balance. "The budget for a place like that... with the full security package..."
"Is 1 billion dollars enough?" I interrupted.
"M-more than enough, sir!"
[Ding! Spent $1,000,000,000.00 on Headquarters.]
[Cashback: $10,000,000,000,000.00!]
My bank account was now a string of numbers I couldn't even name. As we stood in the center of the massive, empty hall of our new headquarters, I turned to Silas.
"This is where we build the empire. You handle the refinery acquisition. Make it quick, and make it quiet. My father shouldn't know his boss has changed until the moment I walk through those gates."
"And your sister, the Director?" Silas asked.
I thought of Ela, probably sitting in her new office right now, using her God-Tier Business Acumen to tear through her rivals.
"She's the Empress," I said softly. "She handles the light. We handle the shadows. Now, go. I have a bus to catch to the village. I can't be late, or she'll start tracking my GPS."