The roar of the helicopter blades was drowned out by the clinking of glasses. Ezra raised his glass with a wide smile. "To Mercer Group!" Ezra cheered. Zane Mercer stared at his champagne glass with a furrowed brow. He slammed the glass back onto the table roughly. "The temperature is ten degrees, Ezra," Zane reprimanded. His gaze was as cold as ice. "My company's SOP is clear: celebration champagne must be served at exactly eight degrees. You want to celebrate a multi-million dollar project with a warm drink?" Ezra chuckled softly. He was already immune to his boss's antics. "Understood, Boss. No one dares to doubt the high standards of a Zane Mercer." Sloane, Zane's fiancée, leaned her head on his shoulder. "Honey, don't be too harsh. Ezra stayed up for two days straight preparing these legal documents for tonight. Appreciate his effort a little." Zane snorted. "I pay him millions of dollars a year not to be appreciated, Sloane, but to work up to standard. Business is bus

Zane glared at the Amazonian woman in front of him. The CEO's rational brain suddenly short-circuited. For his entire life, elite women in New York had lined up and used subtle manipulative tactics to get close to him. But this barbarian woman? She kicked the door down, threw a panther carcass, and directly demanded marriage. "Husband?" Zane repeated. He took a step back, maintaining a safe distance. "Hold on a second, Miss..." "Xara!" the woman cut in loudly. "Okay, Xara. Listen, we just met ten seconds ago. In my world, a partnership—let alone a marriage—requires a due diligence process. A courtship. A two-way agreement." Zane raised both his hands, activating high-level negotiation mode. "Your offer is interesting, but my schedule is extremely tight. I have to manage your village's operational system tomorrow morning. If I become your husband, that's called a conflict of interest. My time will be taken up, and the village's operations could fall apart." Xara tilted her head.

Zane stared at the dead warrior at his feet. The sound of war drums from behind the forest grew increasingly deafening. The village that had just started to become organized was now struck by absolute panic. The women and children ran around looking for places to hide, while the Acquisition Department warriors ran in a panic to the middle of the square with their rusty machetes. "Grok! Situation report, now!" Zane snapped. Grok ran closer. The giant's face was deathly pale. "It's the Blood Skull Tribe, Mr. Boss! They are the most brutal tribe on this island. Their numbers are three times ours!" "What do they want?" Zane asked coldly. "Taxes! They must have smelled our roast boar last night, and they know we have a new catch!" Grok pointed at Avery, who was trembling while hugging the hut's porch pillar. "They are demanding half of the harvest, all the hunted meat, and that white woman!" Zane clicked his tongue softly. "In business, this is called a Hostile Takeover threat. An

The midday sun felt like it was roasting the top of his head.Arthur stood in the middle of the village square, hands on his hips as he supervised his "employees" at work. Xylok, the makeshift HR Manager, was reporting the stock of wild yams and wild fruits using twig scribbles on the ground. On the other side, Grok and the Asset Acquisition Department team had just returned bringing two medium-sized deer caught from the trench trap Arthur had designed."Good work. This is what we call time efficiency," Arthur praised, nodding in satisfaction at the still-living deer. "Put them into the wooden pen I built yesterday. Don't kill them until we need fresh meat. Xylok, record Grok's team's performance today with an A grade!"Xylok hurriedly scribbled on the dirt, even though the old shaman had absolutely no idea what an 'A grade' was. What mattered was that Mr. Boss was happy and their dinner ration was safe.However, amidst his satisfaction of seeing his small kingdom starting to run syst

The midday sun felt like it was burning his skin, but that was nothing compared to the heat in Arthur's head.The CEO stood in front of a giant flat stone in the village square. Below his eyes were rather thick dark circles—the result of staying up all night thanks to Xara's snoring concert that successfully made the hut vibrate.In front of him, Xylok and several representatives from the Acquisition Department were sitting cross-legged, listening to Arthur's scolding with tense faces."Xylok, I've told you time and time again! Don't just throw away the slightly rotten wild yams!" Arthur tapped the stone with a twig in the style of a super annoying manager. "Cut off the rotten parts, and give the good leftovers to our captured boars for feed. This is called zero waste management! Do you guys understand raw material efficiency or not?!"Xylok hurriedly nodded in a panic until his bird skull crown tilted. "U-understood, Mr. Boss! Cut the rotten, give to the boars!"Arthur let out a long