Alex spent the next three days in a secure location. Not his apartment. Not Chen Global headquarters. Not anywhere predictable. A safe house. Victor's network. Off the grid. Untraceable. Six layers of security. Armed guards. Surveillance. Every precaution. Because the assassination attempt changed everything. Marcus visited Wednesday morning. Arrived in armored convoy. Alone except for security. "You look tired." "I almost died. Three days ago. Tired is relative." Marcus sat down heavily. "I should have warned you better. About what fighting Dragons really means. I knew they were dangerous. But this... this is beyond what I expected." "They're desperate. The water initiative threatens them. Makes me untouchable politically. So they'r

Two weeks after surviving Raymond's confidence vote, Alex received an encrypted message. Victor's signature. Maximum security protocol. "Switzerland. Thursday. Konstantin meeting. Alone. Details to follow." Alex called him immediately. "What's this about?" "Opportunity. Dimitri Konstantin wants to negotiate. Personally. Face to face." "Konstantin? The energy Dragon? He tried to kill me." "That was his nephew. Dimitri overruled it. Called it crude. Ineffective. He wants different approach." "What approach?" "Negotiation. He's proposing terms. Ceasefire. Territory division. Mutual non-aggression. Classic detente." "I don't negotiate with criminals." "You do if it saves lives. Alex, Konstantin controls global energy infrastructure. Oil. Gas. Renewables. Everything. He can cause blackouts. Energy crises. Econ

Alex met with Marcus privately that evening.In Marcus's personal study. No recording devices. No witnesses.Just grandfather and grandson.Marcus pulled out documents. Ancient-looking. Sealed."Your grandmother's trust. Established 1962. Sixty-three years of compound growth. Invested across every asset class. Every market. Every opportunity."He opened the first document."Initial deposit: One billion dollars. Her father's fortune. Made in weapons manufacturing, oil exploration, early computing. Blood money, she called it. Wanted it used for good.""So she locked it away?""She invested it. Carefully. Strategically. With explicit instructions: Grow it until it's large enough to change the world. Then release it to someone worthy. Someone who'll use it right."Marcus opened another document."Current value, as of yesterday: $1,247,382,449,651."One point two quadrillion dolla

Saturday morning, Alex received intelligence. Blackwood's leadership meeting. Sunday. Private compound. Montana. All executives. All decision-makers. Planning next moves against Phoenix. James Park brought the information. "My contacts confirmed it. Twelve people. Entire C-suite. Plus board members. All in one location." "What are you suggesting?" "Nothing violent. But legal action. If FBI raids that meeting, arrests everyone present on existing warrants, Blackwood loses leadership. Entire organization collapses." "FBI needs probable cause. Evidence. Warrants." "We have evidence. Everything we've released publicly. War crimes. Terrorist connections. Arms trafficking. More than enough for warrants." "But does FBI have political will? To move against major defense contractor?"<