2026-07-31 07:10:40The banquet hall was so quiet that the sound of a falling spoon could have been heard.
Everyone stared at Victor Langford.
The chairman of Starlight Hospitality Group stood in front of Ethan with a warm smile on his face.
His hand was still extended.
Ethan smiled politely and shook it.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Chairman Langford.”
Victor laughed.
“The pleasure is mine.”
Ryan felt his throat go dry.
He stepped forward.
“Chairman Langford…”
Victor finally turned to look at him.
“Mr. Crawford.”
Ryan forced a smile.
“There must be some misunderstanding.”
Victor raised an eyebrow.
“What misunderstanding?”
Ryan pointed at Ethan.
“He’s just an ordinary delivery rider.”
“I’ve known him for years.”
“He doesn’t have the status to deserve this kind of treatment.”
Victor looked at Ethan for a moment.
Then he looked back at Ryan.
“And who decides a person’s worth?”
Ryan froze.
“I…”
Victor’s voice remained calm.
“You?”
Ryan couldn’t answer.
Victor continued,
“I’ve spent forty years building businesses.”
“One lesson has stayed with me.”
“Never judge a person by where they started.”
The room became silent again.
Victor looked around at everyone.
“Many successful people began with nothing.”
“Some were drivers.”
“Some washed dishes.”
“Some delivered food.”
He smiled.
“What matters is where they’re going.”
Several guests slowly lowered their heads.
Ryan felt his face burn.
Victor turned back to Ethan.
“I heard there was a misunderstanding.”
Ethan smiled.
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
Victor nodded.
“I expected as much.”
He reached into a leather folder carried by one of his assistants.
The assistant immediately handed him a thick envelope.
Victor passed it to Ethan.
“I’ve been meaning to give this to you.”
Ethan accepted it.
“What is it?”
“Open it.”
Everyone watched as Ethan opened the envelope.
Inside were several official documents.
He read the first page.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
The title read:
Transfer of Ownership Agreement
Ethan looked up.
Victor smiled.
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“I completed the paperwork this afternoon.”
Ryan frowned.
“What paperwork?”
Victor answered without taking his eyes off Ethan.
“The paperwork transferring ownership.”
“Ownership of what?”
Victor smiled.
“This hotel.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The words echoed through the banquet hall.
Ryan blinked several times.
“I’m sorry…”
“I think I heard that wrong.”
Victor looked at him.
“No.”
“You heard correctly.”
He turned back to Ethan.
“From today onward…”
“The Starlight Grand Hotel belongs to Mr. Ethan Cole.”
The room exploded.
“What?!”
“That’s impossible!”
“The hotel is worth hundreds of millions!”
“Did he just become the owner?”
Chloe stared at Ethan with trembling lips.
She couldn’t process what she had just heard.
The man she had called poor…
Now owned one of the most luxurious hotels in the city.
Ryan laughed nervously.
“No.”
“This has to be fake.”
Victor’s smile disappeared.
“My legal department prepared the documents.”
“The transfer has already been approved.”
“The government registration was completed an hour ago.”
Ryan’s face turned white.
He looked at the documents.
They carried official stamps.
Official signatures.
Everything was genuine.
His knees nearly gave out.
One of his friends whispered,
“Ryan…”
“I don’t think he’s lying.”
Another swallowed hard.
“If Ethan owns this hotel…”
“…then we’ve been insulting the owner this whole time.”
Cold sweat appeared on several foreheads.
The hotel staff immediately turned toward Ethan and bowed together.
“Welcome, Mr. Cole!”
The synchronized greeting echoed through the banquet hall.
The guests instinctively stood up.
No one wanted to be caught sitting while the hotel’s new owner was standing.
Ethan slowly closed the folder.
He looked at Victor.
“This is a generous gift.”
Victor smiled.
“It isn’t a gift.”
“It’s an investment.”
Ryan frowned.
“Investment?”
Victor nodded.
“I believe Mr. Cole’s future is worth investing in.”
He turned toward Ethan.
“I hope we’ll work together.”
Ethan smiled.
“I think we will.”
At that moment, the system appeared.
Main Mission Progress Updated
Public Reputation Increased.
Ryan Crawford’s Confidence -40%.
Bonus Objective Progress: 70%.
The blue screen disappeared.
Ryan clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.
He couldn’t accept it.
He refused to accept it.
This was supposed to be Ethan’s most humiliating night.
Instead…
Everyone was looking at Ethan with admiration.
The attention.
The respect.
The envy.
It had all shifted.
From Ryan…
To Ethan.
Ryan suddenly laughed.
It wasn’t a happy laugh.
It was desperate.
“You think you’ve won?”
He pointed at Ethan.
“A restaurant.”
“A hotel.”
“So what?”
“My family still controls billions.”
“You’ll never reach our level.”
Ethan calmly looked at him.
“I don’t need to.”
Ryan frowned.
“What?”
“I only need to reach yours.”
Ryan was about to reply when his phone suddenly rang.
He looked at the caller ID.
His smile instantly disappeared.
It was his father.
He answered immediately.
“Dad?”
The furious voice on the other end echoed so loudly that even the people nearby could hear it.
“Ryan!”
“What the hell did you do?”
Ryan’s heart skipped a beat.
“What happened?”
“Our biggest hotel contract with Starlight Hospitality…”
“…has just been canceled!”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
His father continued shouting.
“They said Chairman Langford personally ordered it!”
“They’ve also suspended every future negotiation with the Crawford Group!”
Ryan slowly turned toward Victor.
Victor calmly adjusted his cufflinks.
His expression didn’t change.
Ryan’s hands began trembling.
His father’s angry voice continued through the phone.
“If you don’t fix this…”
“…don’t bother coming home!”
The call ended.
Ryan slowly lowered his phone.
His face had completely lost its color.
Victor finally looked at him.
“My company chooses its business partners carefully.”
He smiled politely.
“And after what I witnessed tonight…”
“I no longer believe the Crawford Group represents the values we stand for.”
Ryan’s legs felt weak.
For the first time in his life…
He realized something terrifying.
He hadn’t destroyed Ethan’s future.
He had just begun destroying his own.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 109: Legacy Reawakened
The blue screen flickered.It was unstable.Unlike the flawless interface Ethan had relied on throughout his journey, this one was fractured.Tiny cracks spread across its edges as though the system itself had suffered tremendous damage.The familiar mechanical voice spoke again.It was weaker than Ethan remembered.Yet…He smiled.After everything that had happened…It still sounded like home.Legacy System…Emergency Restoration… 7% Complete…Warning… Core functions unavailable…Reason… Legacy sacrificed during the Final Convergence…Ethan’s heart pounded.“So…”“You survived.”The screen remained silent for a moment.Then…A new sentence appeared.Correction…This unit did not survive.This unit… was remembered.The words struck him harder than any attack ever could.Remembered.Not rebuilt.Not repaired.Remembered.The blue screen slowly continued.Human belief…Shared memories…Legacy fragments carried within countless lives…Emergency reconstruction successful.Ethan finally un
Chapter 108: The Sky Breaker
The crack spread across the blue sky.It didn’t happen all at once.Thin fractures crawled outward like veins across glass, stretching from one horizon to the other.Each new crack released a faint silver light.The peaceful meadow beneath Ethan’s feet trembled.Birds that had been singing moments before suddenly took flight.The gentle breeze vanished.An unnatural silence swallowed the world.Ren’s small hand instinctively reached for Ethan’s.His fingers were trembling.“They found us.”Ethan looked down.“Who?”Ren swallowed.“The ones who don’t want us remembered.”Another deafening roar echoed overhead.This time…It was closer.The sky shattered a little more.Chunks of blue light drifted downward before dissolving into countless glowing particles.Ethan had seen worlds collapse before.He had watched stars disappear.Yet…There was something uniquely terrifying about watching the sky itself come apart.Not because it looked destructive.Because it looked…Wrong.Like reality w
Chapter 107: The First Face
Every step echoed inside Ethan’s helmet.Crunch.Crunch.Crunch.The lunar dust compressed beneath his boots as he followed the countless footprints stretching toward the enormous black doorway.Mission Control remained connected through his communicator.“Ethan, your oxygen levels are stable.”“Heart rate elevated, but within acceptable limits.”Dr. Brooks’ calm voice filled the silence.Professor Orion spoke next.“Distance to the structure: four hundred meters.”“Proceed carefully.”“I will.”Ethan answered.He never took his eyes off the doorway.The closer he came…The larger it became.From orbit it had looked massive.Standing beneath it…It was overwhelming.It rose into the endless darkness above him like a mountain carved from midnight.Its surface reflected nothing.Not sunlight.Not stars.Not even Ethan himself.It was as though the doorway refused to acknowledge reality.Back on Earth…Sophia stood inside Mission Control.Her hands remained folded tightly together.She h
Chapter 106: The Man Who Walked Through Silence
By sunrise…Ethan had made his decision.He would go.Not because he trusted the beings beyond the black doorway.Not because he believed they meant no harm.But because he had seen something in the message that no one else seemed willing to acknowledge.They had asked.Twice.First…May we speak?Then…One may come.An enemy didn’t ask permission.An enemy simply invaded.Whatever waited beyond that door…It wanted to be heard.Whether that was a blessing or a trap…Only one way existed to find out.The launch facility came alive before dawn.Floodlights illuminated the enormous launch pad while engineers hurried around the silver shuttle.Unlike the bulky spacecraft used during the early years of space exploration…This one had been built after the Seven Days.Human technology had advanced dramatically with knowledge recovered from the Architects.Its engines were cleaner.Its shields stronger.Its navigation system could cross the distance between Earth and the Moon in less than th
Chapter 105: The Invitation
No one celebrated.Although the footprints had stopped appearing…Although the black doorway had remained closed…Not a single person inside Mission Control believed the danger had passed.If anything…The silence felt heavier.It was the silence of two strangers looking at one another across a great distance.Waiting.Wondering who would speak next.Dr. Elena Brooks stood beside the communications console, replaying Ethan’s transmission.“My name is Ethan.”“You asked if you could speak.”“You can.”She listened to it three more times before finally muting the speakers.“I’ve worked in aerospace for seventeen years.”She slowly shook her head.“I spent my entire career preparing for first contact.”She smiled weakly.“I never imagined it would begin with… permission.”Professor Orion nodded.“Neither did I.”Hours passed.The black doorway did not move.The Moon remained quiet.Scientists continued monitoring every satellite, every telescope, and every sensor aimed toward the far sid
Chapter 104: Beyond the Black Door
The three knocks echoed through Mission Control.Slow.Steady.Deliberate.Every person in the room froze.No one spoke.No one breathed.The sound wasn’t coming from the speakers anymore.It seemed to resonate through the walls themselves.Three knocks…Yet it felt as though something enormous had struck the fabric of reality.Then…Silence.Emergency lights flickered back to life.Rows of monitors rebooted one after another.Technicians hurried to their stations.“Power is returning!”“I’m reconnecting to the lunar station!”“Signal stabilizing!”Dr. Elena Brooks leaned over one of the consoles.“Get me visual confirmation.”The largest monitor flashed.Static filled the screen.Then the image cleared.Everyone stared.The giant black doorway still stood on the Moon’s far side.Exactly where it had been before.Silent.Motionless.Almost…Innocent.Kai slowly let out the breath he had been holding.“I hate doors.”Lyra looked at him.“You hate everything.”“I especially hate mysteri
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