Location: East Lin City – Kai's New HQ, Ironspike Tower
Lightning flashed beyond the reinforced glass windows of Ironspike Tower. Kai stood before a live projection of a world map. Pins blinked red across it companies bought, rivals dismantled, and empires absorbed into his own rising dynasty.
But tonight, the system's tone wasn't celebratory.
[ALERT: High-threat individual approaching your location.]
Codename: The Reaper.
Affiliation: Unknown.
Status: Hired by Damien Zheng.
Warning: Hostile intent confirmed.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"Asha," he called.
She appeared instantly, two pistols at her side and a sleek side-holster of electrified blades on her back.
"I assume you saw it too," she said.
Kai nodded. "Damien's getting desperate."
He turned toward the table, where a hologram displayed The Reaper's dossier blank for the most part, save for a string of mysterious deaths in high-security locations. No fingerprints. No witnesses. No mistakes.
"Think we can kill a ghost?" Asha asked dryly.
Kai didn't answer. Instead, he opened a private system panel.
[New Tactical Skill: Decoy Subsystem – Install?]
Cost: 40,000 Credits
Benefit: Can deploy false location data and mirror user presence across multiple digital channels.]
"Install it," he ordered.
[Skill Installed: Decoy Subsystem (Lv.1)]
Somewhere in the city…
A figure dressed in black stepped off a bullet bike and entered the back alleys of District 4. A visor tracked heat signatures. No emotion. No hesitation.
The Reaper moved like wind, silent and surgical.
He wasn't hunting a man.
He was hunting an anomaly.
And anomalies didn't get second chances.
Back at Ironspike Tower
Kai stood calmly, dressed in a charcoal trench coat, with three different decoy signals broadcasting from within the city.
"I'll be in all of them," he said softly. "Let's see if he can figure out which one bleeds."
Asha looked at him. "You're baiting an assassin."
"I'm baiting Damien," Kai replied. "The assassin is just the message."
[New Objective: Survive assassination attempt from The Reaper.]
Bonus Quest: Convert The Reaper into a neutral or allied asset.]
Reward: Assassin Command Protocol + Shadow Asset Network Access]
One Hour Later – Rooftop Showdown
One of Kai's decoy signals stood at the rooftop of an abandoned tower. The Reaper landed in silence.
"Wrong tower," Kai's voice echoed from behind him.
The assassin turned just in time to see Asha leaping at him from the shadows. Blades clashed. Sparks flew.
"You were expecting a lamb," she said, twisting mid-air, "but you got the fangs."
The Reaper deflected, but hesitated his sensors showing another Kai, two blocks away, speaking to a crowd in a financial seminar. And another… in a moving SUV.
"What… are you?" he whispered.
Then Kai appeared. The real one.
"You're good," Kai said. "But good doesn't beat prepared."
[Skill Activated: Temporal Ghost – Predict enemy movements 5 seconds in advance (Lv.1)]
The Reaper's blade struck air.
Kai's strike hit his ribs blunt, not fatal, but stunning.
Asha held her dagger to his throat.
"Choose," Kai said calmly. "Kill a ghost or become one."
[Assassin subdued. Loyalty: 5%]
New Character Gained: The Reaper (Codename: Sable)]
Temporary Status: Captive Asset – Reeducation Protocol Available
Reward Unlocked: Assassin Command Protocol – Control stealth-based operatives remotely.]
Kai looked at the bound man before him.
"Welcome to the real game."
Ghosts of the Past
Flashback: Year 2011 – East Lin University, Department of Economics
Kai Zheng wasn't a billionaire yet. Back then, he was just a scholarship kid with worn shoes, a second-hand laptop, and a hunger that kept him awake at night.
And across from him in the student debate hall… was Damien Zheng.
"Profit without ethics is the future," Damien said, smiling smoothly as the crowd murmured.
Kai's eyes narrowed. "Then enjoy your empire of sand, Damien. Because all it takes is one storm to bring it down."
They'd been rivals since day one. Cousins by blood. Enemies by nature.
Damien had money, charm, connections.
Kai had hunger.
And her.
Li Na was the bridge between them Damien's former flame, Kai's late-night study partner, and, eventually, the woman who laughed at Kai's jokes and ignored Damien's luxury cars.
Present Day – Ironspike Tower: Sub-Level 3, Asset Reconditioning Chamber
The Reaper Sable, as the file called him now was restrained in a magnetic field. Still breathing. Still silent.
Kai stood in front of him, holding a folder filled with classified data.
"Real name: Wen Yue," Kai said. "Former special ops. Vanished after your unit was burned. Your sister died in the hospital because the Ministry froze your accounts. That's why you kill for money now, right?"
Sable's eyes twitched.
"I don't care why you became a weapon," Kai continued. "I care whether you want to aim yourself at the people who made you one."
He tossed a photo into the chamber.
Damien Zheng. Standing beside Minister Luo one of the men who shut down Sable's unit.
A long silence.
Then:
"…What's the offer?" Sable rasped.
Kai smiled.
"You don't work for me. You work with me. You get clean kills, clean pay, and access to my system network. In return, you help me dismantle Damien Zheng piece by piece."
Sable's voice was dry but steady. "Then let's begin."
[Asset Converted: Sable – Status: Allied Operative (Loyalty: 42%)]
Skill Unlocked: Black Veil Execution – Temporarily erase a presence from all surveillance systems and live feeds.
Later that night – Rooftop Lounge, Ironspike Tower
Kai stood at the edge, watching the stars shimmer over East Lin City. Asha approached, drink in hand.
"You trust him?" she asked.
"No," Kai replied. "But I trust pain. It turns the sharpest blades."
They both looked out at the skyline.
"Next phase?" she asked.
Kai nodded.
"We take the war to Damien. First target Vireon Biotech. He's using it to fund his shadow campaigns."
[New Mission Unlocked: Hostile Takeover – Vireon Biotech]
Objective: Seize controlling shares, expose illegal trials, dismantle Damien's medical front.]
Reward: Advanced Biotech Forecast Module + Medical Investment Portfolio Interface]
Kai downed his drink.
"Let's remind Damien what a real Overlord looks like."
Hostile Takeover
Three Days Later – Vireon Biotech Headquarters, Midtown Sector
Asha adjusted the pin in her hair actually a micro-transceiver and whispered, "Kai, I'm in. Top floor's secured. Their CTO's got a nasty crypto-lock on the server, but give me five."
Kai stood outside the lobby, dressed in a charcoal-gray suit sharp enough to slice through red tape. The security cameras didn't track him; they'd already been looped by Sable's silent infiltration two hours ago.
Inside the building's mirrored lobby, executives milled around, sipping overpriced lattes, unaware that their entire corporate ladder was about to collapse.
[System Interface Online… Scanning Public Records]
Target: Vireon Biotech – Stock Control: 51% Private, 39% Public, 10% Undeclared Shadow Stake (Owner: D. Zheng)]
Suggested Action: Simultaneous market surge + whistleblower protocol to initiate collapse and buyout.
Kai smirked. The system's plan aligned perfectly with his own.
"Triggering the leak," he whispered.
Back in his Ironspike war room, automated scripts released confidential lab reports to ten major news outlets data revealing Vireon's experimental drug trials had caused neural decay in test subjects. Trials they had buried.
The market reacted like a kicked hornet's nest.
[ALERT: Vireon Biotech Stock Plummeting – 43% loss in under 15 minutes]
Kai turned to his burner phone and messaged a single contact:
To: Riven (NetAlias: V0ID.EXE)
Phase One complete. Ready for the blackout?
Seconds later, a private reply flashed:
V0ID.EXE: Ready to burn. Releasing the kill switch. You'll have 30 seconds of ghost time. Use it well, Mr. Zheng.
In those 30 seconds, Kai stepped into the building.
No cameras. No records. Just him and the steel-spiraled elevator to the executive floor.
Top Floor – CEO Office
Dr. Kieran Huo, the acting CEO of Vireon, looked up from his terminal as Kai walked in like he owned the place. Because, by the end of the day, he would.
"Who the hell are you?" Kieran demanded, standing up.
"I'm the man who just bought 41% of your company for pennies on the dollar," Kai said calmly. "And the man who's about to make your insider trading charges stick."
He threw a file on the table. Inside were bank records, falsified patient data, and a very clear trail leading to both Kieran… and Damien.
"You have two options," Kai said. "One: Resign, cooperate, and walk out with a golden parachute. Or two: Get walked out in cuffs and have every dollar in your offshore account frozen."
Kieran's face paled.
"You're bluffing."
Kai stepped aside as Asha entered, holding a signed federal waiver from the National Ethics Bureau.
"He's not bluffing," she said. "I've got the authorities on hold. Pick."
Ten minutes later, Kieran was gone.
And Kai stood behind his desk.
[Mission Complete: Hostile Takeover – Vireon Biotech]
Reward Unlocked: Biotech Forecast Module + Passive Income Stream Established (+¥125,000/week)]
[System Upgrade Available: Would you like to unlock the Public Persona Control Suite?]
Kai pressed "Yes."
A holographic UI formed in front of him, giving him access to media channels, influencer algorithms, and PR spin networks.
Time to own the narrative.
Elsewhere – Damien Zheng's Private Villa
Damien hurled a crystal tumbler against the wall, watching the stock ticker drop like a stone.
"How the hell did this happen!?" he barked at his advisor.
"He… he knew everything. The trials, the accounts, even Kieran's passwords. It's like he's reading our minds."
Damien's eyes narrowed.
"No," he whispered. "He's reading the future."
He looked out the window toward the city skyline, where Ironspike Tower glowed like a second sun.
"Kai Zheng… You're back."