Max leaned back in his leather chair, staring at the glowing monitor on his desk. He was pulling up the complete financial spreadsheet for the Billion Bloodline, tracking the passive income rolling into their main account.
It was getting ridiculous. He had conquered so many profitable businesses over the last few weeks that his wealth was growing automatically by the hour. And in his world, wealth directly translated to physical strength through his Vow. The only problem was the scaling. Because his current net worth was already so massive, the steady drip of daily profits barely made a dent in his power. To get a real, explosive upgrade, he needed to absorb a massive lump sum of cash all at once.
Maybe I should have just forced Donto’s hand and stripped him of his bank accounts when I had the chance, Max thought, tapping a pen against his desk. But with the other two Sterns moving in the shadows, I guess a better opportunity to steal their capital will show up later anyway.
His train of thought was shattered when his office door clicked open. One of his newly hired receptionists peeked her head in, looking nervous. "Sir, I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a priority call on the main line for the Chairman."
Under normal circumstances, Max would have ignored it and told her to take a message, but since he was already sitting at his desk analyzing their territory, he decided to find out who was on the other end.
"Alright, put them through. Let’s see if it’s actually important," Max said, picking up the heavy black desk phone. He leaned back, his tone shifting back to the cold, authoritative frequency he used to use when he ran the White Tiger group. He was the king of this territory now, and he expected people to treat him like one.
"I’ve been told you’ve been burning up my lines trying to reach me," Max said flatly into the receiver. "I hope this is worth my time."
There was a brief pause on the other end, followed by a rough, skeptical chuckle. "Are you really the Chairman? Your voice sounds like you’re still in high school, kid."
Max didn’t even blink. He slammed the phone back onto its cradle, cutting the line instantly.
"I explicitly told the front desk not to let people waste my time, and the very first thing this idiot does is comment on my age," Max said, his eyes narrowing in frustration.
Aron, who was standing like a silent shadow right behind Max’s chair, looked a little surprised by the sudden reaction. He kept his mouth shut, though, knowing better than to interrupt. As expected, the desk phone started ringing again almost immediately. Max picked it up on the second ring.
"Hey, you little piece of shit, who do you think you’re talking to?!" a furious voice screamed through the speaker, loud enough for Aron to hear it. "I’m the head of the Unicorn Syndicate! Are you actively trying to start a war with my territory?"
"Speak to me with respect, or don’t speak to me at all," Max said coldly. Then, he hung up the phone for the second time.
The Unicorn Syndicate wasn’t a mystery to him. Now that he was operating in the upper echelons of the criminal underworld, he kept a mental map of every major player, and he knew the Unicorns were the dominant force in Carlton City—the exact destination where the Fallen Rose had just gone to clean out the Venomous Snakes.
When the phone began to ring for a third time, Max let out a heavy sigh and lifted the receiver, waiting silently.
"I see. I’m starting to learn exactly what kind of guy you are. I guess a kid doesn’t rise to the top of a city for no reason," the Unicorn leader said, his voice dropping into a tense, dangerous calm. "Let’s get straight to the point. I just received word that the Fallen Rose marched straight into my city and executed the Venomous Snakes without my permission.
"You should know you can’t just cross borders and butcher crews without showing a baseline level of respect to the local rulers. I’m giving you that respect right now by telling you how this ends. I’m going to force the Fallen Rose to switch sides and join my payroll. And if they refuse? I’m going to completely eliminate them. It’s my right as the boss of this city."
Unlop thought this was the absolute perfect moment to pull a power move and hang up on Max, but before his finger could even reach the button, the line in his hand went dead. Max had already hung up on him first.
"Do you think there’s any statistical chance the Fallen Rose will actually betray us and switch sides?" Aron asked, stepping forward to look at the desk.
"I highly doubt it," Max answered, tossing the phone aside. "The Unicorns can’t offer them the kind of price we’re paying, and the Rose seems to have their own personal, unaligned interests in keeping this alliance alive.
"You have to remember, Aron, in terms of global ranking, the Fallen Rose and the Unicorns are considered to be on the exact same tier. A Syndicate-level organization doesn’t just fold or take orders from a rival. They reached that peak through their own raw strength, and they aren’t going to play lapdog for a mid-tier boss."
Aron nodded, agreeing with the tactical assessment, but a dark look crossed his face as he stared out the window at the empty courtyard.
"Even if they don’t switch sides, the Fallen Rose is going to find themselves in a massive trap," Aron pointed out. "Unlop isn’t going to make it easy for them to just ride out of his city after an insult like that. They’re isolated."
"You’re right," Max murmured, his fingers tracing the edge of his desk. "A full-scale war between two Syndicate-level organizations is a messy, complicated process. It will take a few days at least to play out. We’ve been spoiled because we sorted our local situations with one-off, high-velocity battles, but real underworld campaigns are a grind."
"I’m just worried about our defensive parameters," Aron admitted, his voice dropping. "We have a ridiculous number of enemies hunting for our heads these days, between Dud, the prison escapees, and your family. Having the Fallen Rose stationed in our building was actually incredibly reassuring. It gave us a massive safety buffer."
Max stayed silent, but internally, he completely agreed with his guardian. Even though the biker women weren’t officially part of the Billion Bloodline roster, the fortress had felt significantly safer with thirty lethal sword-wielders walking the halls.
Just as Max was about to stand up and head to the resting quarters to get some sleep, the quiet was broken by the sharp buzz of Aron’s personal cell phone. Aron answered it quickly, his expression instantly shifting from calm to pure shock. He lowered the device, his hand trembling slightly.
"Max... we have a catastrophic problem," Aron said, his voice shaking the quiet of the room. "The scout I tasked with monitoring the outer perimeter just called in. Hercules... he’s either completely gone missing, or he’s dead."