Chapter 578: The Friendly Takeover

Rin vanished into a blur of silver steel, his twin swords effortlessly severing the hydraulic joints of the nearest mechs before they could fire a single plasma volley.

Reva vaulted over a maintenance terminal, utilizing the high ground to systematically blast the optical sensors out of the remaining robots with her armor-piercing rounds.

Klatos swept through the corridor, his bladed wings turning the expensive security hardware into sparking scrap metal.

Xavier simply strolled through the carnage, pointing his drones at the action like an enthusiastic tourist.

“Five stars for Vanguard Security,” Xavier narrated over the sound of crunching metal. “Highly recommend them if you ever find yourself navigating a hostile corporate takeover.”

They reached the top floor completely unopposed by human guards, who had largely evacuated during the city-wide data leak.

Xalvoria stepped past the ruined mechs and approached the towering mahogany doors of the executive boardroom. She didn’t bother using the handle.

A pulse of void magic blew the reinforced doors entirely off their hinges, sending them crashing into the long glass table inside.

Xavier strolled into the room with his drones buzzing around his shoulders.

Malakor stood at the head of the shattered table, clutching a metallic data cylinder, seemingly the biological vault keys. Surrounding him were twelve wealthy board members, all staring in absolute horror at the heavily armed crew that had just breached their impenetrable sanctuary.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Malakor shouted, his polished silver suit covered in splinters. He reached for a hidden alarm beneath the table. “My security forces will have you executed!”

“Your security forces are currently scattered across the city dealing with a massive PR nightmare,” Xavier said smoothly, keeping his hands empty to maintain his innocent persona on the broadcast. “And I am officially here on behalf of CEO Lorde to collect his stolen property.”

[StarGazer99]: HE JUST WALKED INTO THE BOARDROOM! ABSOLUTE MADMAN!

[BountyHunterX]: Malakor looks like he’s about to cry.

Malakor sneered, regaining a fraction of his composure as he looked at his fellow executives. “You think you can just walk in here and take it? The Apex Conglomerate owns the judges, the enforcers, and the orbital fleet! Board members, authorize the deployment of the private armada!”

The executives nervously tapped their datapads, preparing to initiate a full-scale corporate war. Xavier simply laughed. He didn’t draw his weapon. He didn’t threaten them. Instead, he opened the Unlimited Money System in his peripheral vision.

“Let’s try a different approach, chat,” Xavier announced to the billions watching. “Welcome to a live hostile takeover.”

He looked directly at the twelve board members. “Malakor’s stock is currently plummeting due to his little assassination scandal. I will offer each of you exactly fifty million USC right now to instantly resign from the board and transfer your voting rights to me.”

The room fell dead silent. Malakor’s jaw dropped. “You… you can’t be serious. You don’t have that kind of capital!”

Xavier tapped his console.

[ Currency Converted. Transaction Initiated. ]

The datapads of all twelve board members chimed simultaneously. Their eyes widened as fifty million USC appeared in their private, untraceable offshore accounts.

“I’ll take it,” a wealthy alien executive blurted out, instantly signing his shares over on his tablet. He stood up and practically sprinted toward the exit.

“Me too!” another yelled, terrified of Xalvoria’s glowing crimson aura and eager to take the massive payout before the company entirely collapsed.

Within ten seconds, every single board member had resigned, leaving Malakor standing completely alone at the head of the table. Xavier smiled and extended his hand.

“As the new majority shareholder of the Apex Conglomerate,” Xavier declared, “you are fired, Malakor. Hand over the keys.”

Malakor let out a scream of pure rage and drew a hidden plasma pistol from his coat, aiming it directly at the camera. Before he could even squeeze the trigger, Lyra materialized beside him.

She casually melted the weapon down to a puddle of hot slag with a flick of her wrist, singeing Malakor’s hand in the process.

Xavier stepped forward, plucked the data cylinder from the whimpering CEO’s grip, and held it up for the drones.

“Mission accomplished, chat,” Xavier smiled.

Xavier turned back to the hovering drones and offered a casual wave. “That is a wrap on today’s business venture, everyone. We managed to secure the proper clearance, and now my team is going to handle the boring legal distribution behind the scenes. Thanks for tuning in, and I will catch you all on the next broadcast.”

He tapped his collar, cutting the live feed instantly. The three metallic spheres deactivated their glowing lenses and clipped back onto his suit.

[ Stream Terminated. Total Views: 5.4 Billion. System Rewards Distributed. ]

Xavier pocketed the biometric cylinder he had taken from Malakor. “The stream is dark. Let us move before Lorde’s cleanup crews realize we are not planning to hand this key over to the authorities.”

The crew moved quickly through the service tunnels beneath the corporate tower, boarding a heavy pneumatic freight lift that descended miles into the planetary crust. The air grew progressively cooler, thick with the scent of damp stone and ancient dust.

When the lift finally ground to a halt, they stepped into a colossal cavern carved from seamless, pitch-black glass.

This was the lower foundation of the universal bank, a place built long before the corporations laid their foundations on the surface.

Xavier stepped up to a massive, circular locking mechanism that blocked the path. He slid Malakor’s biometric cylinder into a narrow slot. The device whirred, reading the encrypted DNA sequence before a deep hum resonated through the floorboards.

[ Security Clearance Verified. Outer Gates Disengaged. ]

The massive mechanism turned, but instead of revealing a modern, high-tech corridor, the doors parted to expose a dimly lit stone pathway suspended over a bottomless chasm.

“The modern security ends here,” Kylus said, his silver eyes adjusting to the darkness. He pointed toward a series of massive, geometric stone pillars lining the bridge. “The inner vaults were designed by a paranoid precursor civilization. They did not trust digital systems. Everything ahead is purely mechanical and triggered by weight, motion, or pressure.”

‘No hacking, no systems to manipulate. Just survival,’ Xavier realized, stepping onto the pathway with his hands in his pockets. “Heh, reminds me of when I was in the prison.”