2026-06-24 08:57:52Chapter 8
An hour later, Arthur walked out of the boutique looking like a completely different human being.
He wore a bespoke, midnight-blue suit cut from the finest super 150s wool. A crisp white dress shirt hugged his newly enhanced physique, unbuttoned slightly at the collar to reveal a subtle, dangerous confidence. A silver Rolex Daytona rested heavily on his left wrist, courtesy of the boutique's private vault.
He didn't just look like a billionaire; he looked like a king walking among peasants.
He stepped into the back of the black town car Elias had left waiting for him. As the door clicked shut, Arthur pulled up the System interface. It was time to spend his hard-earned System Points.
[Current System Points: 14,600]
Open the Store, Arthur commanded mentally. Filter for high-tier physical and passive skills.
The blue screen populated with glowing gold icons. Arthur analyzed his upcoming threats. Richard Sterling was a ruthless billionaire with deep ties to the city’s underground. Suing Arthur wouldn’t work, so Richard would inevitably turn to violence. Arthur needed to be untouchable.
He made his selections.
[Purchase: Grandmaster Close Quarters Combat (CQC) — 5,000 SP]
[Purchase: Aura of the Sovereign (Passive) — 3,000 SP]
[Purchase: Advanced Cognitive Processing - 4,000 SP]
[Total deducted: 12,000 SP. Remaining: 2,600 SP.]
The moment the transaction cleared, Arthur’s body seized.
It wasn't a gentle warmth like the first serum. This was a violent, explosive rewiring of his biology. Knowledge flooded his brain like a tidal wave thousands of hours of martial arts experience, pressure points, joint locks, and lethal strikes were violently etched into his muscle memory. His brain suddenly felt like a supercomputer, processing the speed of the passing cars, the trajectory of the raindrops, and the exact breathing pattern of his driver all at once.
When he opened his eyes, the world moved slower.
And then there was the Aura. Arthur didn't feel it himself, but when he leaned forward and caught the driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror, the driver physically flinched, instinctively bowing his head slightly as if terrified to hold Arthur's gaze. The Aura of the Sovereign passively projected intense authority and suppressed the willpower of those around him.
"Where to, Mr. Vance?" the driver asked, his voice trembling with newfound reverence.
"Zenith Realty," Arthur replied smoothly. "I need a place to sleep tonight."
Ten minutes later, Arthur walked into the opulent, glass-walled offices of Zenith Realty, Valmont City’s premier real estate broker for the ultra-wealthy.
Unlike the boutique, there was no snooty salesman to greet him. The moment Arthur walked through the door, the Aura of the Sovereign did the heavy lifting. The receptionist immediately stood up, and three senior brokers stopped their conversations, staring at Arthur with wide, respectful eyes. His suit, his watch, and his terrifying presence practically screamed 'Old Money.'
A young, sharp-looking woman with her hair pulled into a tight bun approached him cautiously. Her name tag read Chloe.
"Welcome to Zenith Realty, sir," Chloe said, offering a professional bow. "How may I assist you today?"
"I need a house, Chloe," Arthur said, taking a seat on the white leather sofa in the lobby. He crossed one leg over the other, exuding absolute control. "I don't want to look at a catalog. I want the most expensive residential property available in Valmont City. Ready for immediate move-in."
Chloe’s eyes widened. "The... the most expensive, sir? Are you certain? We have several beautiful properties in the ten-million range"
"Did I stutter?" Arthur asked softly.
Chloe gulped, her cheeks flushing. "N-No, sir! My apologies. The most exclusive property we have is the Apex Estate on Sovereign Hill. It’s a forty-thousand-square-foot modern fortress. Helicopter pad, indoor infinity pool, biometric security. But..."
She hesitated, looking nervously toward the senior broker's office. "It's listed at one hundred and fifty million dollars. And... well, Mr. Richard Sterling has been in heavy negotiations to acquire it for the past month. We are expecting him to sign the papers tomorrow."
Arthur’s eyes gleamed with predatory delight. Richard Sterling wanted it? Perfect.
"I'll take it," Arthur said, pulling his phone from his pocket. "One hundred and fifty million. Paid in full, in cash, right this second. Draw up the deed."
Chloe looked like she was going to pass out. A hundred and fifty million in cash? Her commission alone would set her up for life.
"Sir, if you buy this out from under Mr. Sterling... he is a very vindictive man. The Sterling family essentially rules Sovereign Hill."
"Not anymore," Arthur smiled, his eyes flashing with a dangerous, golden light. "Prepare the paperwork, Chloe. Richard Sterling is going to learn how it feels to be a tenant in my city."
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Chapter 104The boardroom in San Marcos felt suddenly, suffocatingly small.Arthur Vance stood near the shattered balcony, the ocean breeze carrying the scent of salt and ozone into the room. He didn't feel the chill of the morning air. The Zenith Protocol humming in his DNA regulated his body temperature with absolute, terrifying efficiency. He was no longer just a biologically enhanced human; he was a localized anchor for cosmic law."We are going to a neighboring galaxy?" Serena repeated, her voice perfectly steady, though her hands gripped the back of a velvet chair so tightly her knuckles were white. "Arthur, we barely survived a skirmish in our own solar system. We have one dreadnought, a scrap-hauler, and a few dozen augmented soldiers. How do we wage an intergalactic war?"Arthur turned away from the balcony. His eyes, burning with that unnatural black-and-gold fire, swept across his board of directors."We don't have a few dozen soldiers, Serena," Arthur corrected smoothly. "
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Chapter 103The audacity of Arthur's bluff hung heavily in the infinite void.There was no other Parent Company. There was no higher authority. But Arthur delivered the threat with such absolute, unbreakable conviction that the cosmic entities paused. In the realm of high finance even on an inter-dimensional scale confidence was a currency all its own.The towering geometric shapes of blinding light slowly began to shift, rotating around the obsidian platform. They were conversing in localized bursts of data that bypassed physical sound entirely.Arthur’s Advanced Cognitive Processing whirred, translating the massive electromagnetic spikes as the Shareholders debated his proposal. The pain in his skull was agonizing, a dull throb threatening to split his temples, but he maintained a mask of total indifference. He was a salesman waiting for the client to sign the dotted line.Finally, the massive blue tesseract drifted closer, dominating Arthur’s field of view."Your proposal is highly
The Cosmic Modification
Chapter 102The ticking of the clocks inside Arthur’s head grew deafening.The Auditor stood perfectly still, processing the sheer, unfathomable audacity of the request. A biological asset, standing in the ruins of a hijacked planet, was demanding a face-to-face meeting with the architects of the multiverse to restructure a debt he couldn't possibly comprehend."You wish to speak to the True Shareholders?" the Auditor asked, the ticking slowing down to a rhythmic, thoughtful pulse. "Mr. Vance, your biology would shatter the moment you perceived their true form. You are asking to walk into the heart of a burning sun to negotiate the price of heat.""I've survived a singularity," Arthur replied, his golden eyes unblinking. "I'll take my chances. If I fail, you can vaporize my galaxy. But if I succeed, I will turn this sector into the most profitable franchise in your entire corporate portfolio. You take a meeting, or you take a write-off. Choose."The Auditor stared at the human. Behind
The Parent Company Auditor
Chapter 101The ticking of a billion clocks resonated inside Arthur’s skull, a sound so precise and overwhelming it threatened to shatter his eardrums from the inside out.The entity standing in the center of the ruined boardroom didn't project an aura of violence. It projected an aura of absolute, crushing bureaucracy. The white fire of the spatial tear sealed neatly behind it, leaving the Auditor standing on the Genesis-forged marble floor like a tax collector arriving at a bankrupt estate."Open fire!" Vera commanded, her voice slicing through the paralyzing tension.The twelve Praetorian Guards didn't hesitate. They lunged forward, thrusting their heavy anti-matter halberds directly at the entity's chest in a coordinated, lethal strike designed to vaporize cosmic gods.The Auditor didn't dodge. It didn't raise a shield.It simply raised its free hand and snapped its fingers.The anti-matter halberds—weapons capable of shattering the hulls of dreadnoughts—instantly turned to gray a
The Parent Company
Chapter 100The rain in Valmont City smelled exactly the way Arthur remembered. It carried the scent of wet asphalt, distant exhaust fumes, and cold, terrestrial ozone.He stood on the highest balcony of the Valmont Spire, staring out over the sprawling metropolis. He wasn't wearing dark-matter gauntlets or a blood-stained duster. He wore a simple gray sweater and dark slacks. In his hands, he held a chipped ceramic mug filled with black coffee.It was a quiet, fundamentally human moment. The kind of moment he hadn't allowed himself since the day Eleanor handed him those divorce papers."You're shivering."Arthur didn't turn around. Serena stepped out onto the balcony, wrapping a thick, woolen blanket over his shoulders. She lingered for a second, her hands resting warmly against his back."The Leviathan serum repairs muscle tissue," Arthur murmured, taking a slow sip of the bitter coffee. "It doesn't do much for phantom exhaustion. I feel like I’ve lived a thousand years in the last
The Final Audit
Chapter 99The silence on the bridge of the Sovereign’s Wrath was suffocating.Arthur Vance stared at the holographic star-chart. Thousands of red dots the absolute, concentrated military might of the Apex Tribunal were dropping out of hyperspace and forming a suffocating blockade around Earth.The planet was completely surrounded."They know you survived the blast," Serena said quietly, her voice trembling as she stood beside Arthur. "They know you destroyed the reserve. They are going to hold the planet hostage to force you to surrender the developer keys.""They don't take hostages," Arthur replied, his voice a low, vibrating rumble that made the deck plates hum. "They are going to glass the planet just to make sure I don't have a home to return to.""Arthur," Victoria interjected, her fingers flying across her silver tablet. "We have the Vance Corp armada. The ships we stole using your override code. It’s a massive fleet, but it’s scattered across the outer sectors securing the tr
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