The skyline of East Lin glowed under the twilight, skyscrapers casting long shadows like blades. In the heart of the financial district, Damien Zheng stood before a sprawling digital display inside Black Lotus Capital the very hedge fund he would one day use to crush his cousin.
But this time, something was different.
"Kai Zheng…" Damien muttered, zooming in on the café footage again.
He watched the handshake between Kai and Tang Mei-Lin. Paused. Zoomed.
A smirk curled on his lips.
"So… he's not just surviving. He's building."
He turned to his assistant, a cold-eyed woman in a crimson blazer named Yura Liang.
"Find everything on her. Tang Mei-Lin. Student, future lawyer… whatever. I want her life mapped out by sunrise."
Yura gave a curt nod. "And the boy he met before? The one with the backpack?"
Damien's smile faded slightly.
"That… was Toby Ren, wasn't it?"
Yura hesitated. "Yes, sir. He's currently working on"
"I know what he's working on," Damien snapped. "The chip. The one I planned to steal in Q2 of next year."
He walked to the edge of the office, hands behind his back.
"I thought fate had gifted me a clean board. No pieces left to challenge me. But Kai…"
He looked down at the city like a god surveying a game.
"He came back with something."
"Should we act now?" Yura asked.
Damien shook his head slowly. "No. Let him taste progress. Let him rise. And then when he thinks he's untouchable…"
His eyes darkened. "We'll rip it all away again."
Meanwhile Kai's Apartment, District 9
The room was dim, lit only by the glow of the system screen and the pulsing light of Kai's cracked desk lamp. Tang Mei-Lin stood near the door, flipping through legal notes. Across from her, Toby Ren scribbled technical designs.
Kai sat in the middle, sipping tea like a king among scholars.
[System Update: New Market Opportunities Detected]
[Available Mission: Acquire 3 Strategic Assets in 30 Days]
Reward: Asset Management Skill (Lv.1) + Territory Influence Panel Unlocked
Kai tapped the system interface, thoughts racing.
He needed more than just people now. He needed leverage. Real estate. Companies. IP rights. Power players.
"Tomorrow," Kai said, "we go hunting."
Toby blinked. "H-Hunting?"
Kai stood, fire in his eyes.
"For broken gold mines, forgotten IPs, undervalued patents, and bankrupt titans. There's treasure in failure, gentlemen. We just need to dig faster than the scavengers."
Tang looked up, the corners of her lips twitching. "I hope you have a shovel."
Kai smiled. "I've got something better."
He raised his hand, the system screen blooming behind him.
[Unlocking New Feature: Shadow Auctions]
[Description: Access to hidden deals, desperate sales, and black-market corporate takeovers. Risk: High. Reward: Higher.]
A new screen appeared lists of dying companies, panic sellers, secret sales. His eyes locked on one.
YuanTech Biologics – Patent Portfolio Sale (Hidden Asset Flag Detected)
Bid Starts: ¥50,000
Time Left: 3 Hours
"Get me every file you can on YuanTech," Kai barked. "Now."
Mei-Lin's fingers flew across her tablet. "On it. They went under last year after a failed vaccine rollout, but… wait what the hell? There's a dormant antiviral formula hidden in the asset list."
Kai leaned in. "Viable?"
"Two months of testing and it could be worth billions. The original founder filed the patent personally, but it's never been monetized."
Toby whistled. "That's a sleeping goldmine."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"And it's about to be mine."
Across the City – An Emergency Ping
Yura Liang's monitor buzzed.
Damien walked over slowly.
"What is it?"
Yura tilted her head, then looked up.
"A flagged IP just got triggered on the black-tier auction stream."
Damien's expression twisted.
"Which one?"
"YuanTech Biologics. The one we were going to use as a money-laundering shell in Q3."
A long silence.
"Who's bidding?"
Yura stared at the screen.
"…Kai Zheng."
---
The Bidding War
The clock ticked down in red digital digits on Kai's system interface.
[YuanTech Biologics – Shadow Auction]
Time Remaining: 02:57:13
Current Bid: ¥67,000
Next Minimum Bid: ¥72,000
Kai cracked his knuckles. The apartment was silent except for the humming fan and the furious tapping of keyboards. Tang Mei-Lin was cross-referencing patent numbers. Toby Ren was reverse-engineering the antiviral formula based on publicly available research.
Kai was focused.
This wasn't just about buying a company.
This was about stealing the future before Damien could touch it.
[System Notification: Shadow Competitor Detected – Alias: "BlackLotus_13"]
[Warning: Target has connections to high-level financial entities.]
Damien.
Kai's grin returned, slow and sharp. "So you're watching me already. Good."
He typed a bid.
New Bid Placed: ¥72,000
[Bid Confirmed – You are the highest bidder.]
But within seconds:
[New Bid: ¥85,000 – BlackLotus_13]
[New Bid: ¥90,000 – KaiZ_Reboot]
[New Bid: ¥120,000 – BlackLotus_13]
Tang looked up. "That jump... They're trying to scare us off."
Kai's voice was calm. "Fear is for people who can lose."
The system screen blinked.
[Warning: Bidding over 150,000 will trigger Asset Verification.]
If that happened, Damien would know exactly how much Kai had he couldn't let that occur.
He closed his eyes.
"Toby. What's the real value of YuanTech's hidden patent?"
Toby rubbed his forehead. "Assuming minimal refinement and licensing? Anywhere from ¥5 million to ¥20 million in three years. If we can fast-track development, we could 10X that."
Tang nodded. "But only if we stop Damien from scooping it up and burying it."
Kai's fingers hovered over the keys.
The system pulsed again.
[Emergency Option Available: Use "System Favor" Token]
Effect: Forces all competitors out of the current shadow auction via untraceable financial interference.
Cost: 1 of 3 system favors (non-replenishable unless given by System Event)
Kai clenched his jaw.
A precious token.
But the stakes were higher than cash.
This was personal.
"Use it," he whispered.
[System Favor Activated – Shadow Auction Interference in Progress…]
Across the city, Damien stared at his screen as it flashed red.
[ALERT: Shadow Auction Disrupted – Access Revoked. Bid Denied.]
"What?" he hissed. "Who the hell!?"
Back at Kai's apartment…
[Auction Ended – Winner: KaiZ_Reboot]
Asset Acquired: 100% Rights to YuanTech Biologics Patent Portfolio]
New Skill Unlocked: Intellectual Property Leverage (Lv.1)
Description: Gain 10% increased influence when negotiating patents, legal rights, and licensing deals.
Tang slumped in her seat with a grin. "You just stole a future unicorn."
Kai stood up, fire in his veins.
"No," he said. "I just planted the seed of an empire."
Somewhere Dark – Damien's Private Suite
Glass shattered.
"WHO INTERFERED!?"
Damien's shout echoed across the suite as he threw a crystal tumbler against the wall.
Yura calmly scanned the logs. "The interference came from a system-level force. It wasn't a hack. It was… something else."
Damien's hand trembled. He stared at the frozen image of Kai from the café surveillance feed.
"He shouldn't be capable of this."
Yura hesitated. "…What if he has something helping him?"
Damien's eyes narrowed.
"Then we hunt it down. We expose it. And we burn it out of him."
Later That Night – Rooftop, Kai's Apartment
Kai stood under the stars, the city stretching endlessly before him.
[System Notification: Empire Path Unlocked – Choose Your Branch]
1. Financial Tyrant – Focus on monopolies, hostile takeovers, and legacy-building
2. Underground King – Build black-market power, influence in politics and law
3. Innovator Sovereign – Control the tech world through disruption and invention
He didn't hesitate.
Selected: Financial Tyrant
[Path Locked. New Skill Tree Available. Empire Progression Begins.]
Kai's eyes gleamed.
"They wanted a pawn."
He stepped forward, watching the traffic below.
"I'll become the board."