Chapter 96: Fourth Acquisition

Xavier woke up the next morning and checked his phone before getting out of bed.

Two things. The Asset Rebound countdown from the food distribution company. And Vincent’s fourth acquisition overview he’d started reading the night before.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Daily Cap Reset

[ New Rebate Cycle Active ]

[ Net Balance: $4,574,014.00 ]

[ Daily Cap: $500,000 ]

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Asset Rebound Triggered

Food Distribution Company Acquisition

3x Investment Return: $1,140,000

[ Net Balance: $4,574,014.00 → $5,714,014.00 ]

[ Investment Portfolio: $1,110,000 / $3,000,000 ]

$5,714,014, he thought.

He looked at that number for a long moment.

Already Past five million, he thought. From $520. In under four months. He smirked.

He set the phone down. Stared at the ceiling for ten seconds. Let it land properly the way he always did when a number crossed a threshold that would have seemed fictional at the start.

Five million, he thought again. Never in his life would he had thought he would handle such money, but here we are and we’ll do more.

Then he got up.

He showered, dressed in dark trousers and a clean shirt. No suit today, just a normal campus morning and sat at the repositioned desk with his coffee and Vincent’s fourth acquisition overview open on the MacBook.

The fourth target from the USB list.

A printing and media company on the east side of Kenvale. Small operation. Consisted of eight employees, two commercial contracts, a third contract in negotiation. Current valuation $220,000. Owner in his late fifties, semi-retired, running the business on momentum rather than active management. The kind of operation that had been coasting for two years and needed either fresh capital or someone who cared enough to push it forward.

Rated A on the USB list, he noted. Undervalued. Clean books. Owner motivated to exit.

He read through the financials Vincent had attached. Twenty minutes of actual reading rather than the quick scan he’d done the night before when he was tired and eating Mama Elizabeth’s food simultaneously.

The third contract, he noted. The one in negotiation. If it closes and the proposal documents suggest it will. The valuation jumps to $310,000 immediately. Which means I’m acquiring at $220,000 something worth $310,000 before the Asset Rebound touches it.

Very good, he thought. Very deliberate of the USB document to flag this one A.

He called Vincent at 9AM.

"The printing company," he said when Vincent answered. "I want to move today."

A brief moment of silence on the line.

"I was going to suggest tomorrow," Vincent said. "Give you time to review the..."

"I reviewed it," Xavier said. "The third contract in negotiation changes the valuation picture significantly. Moving today before it closes means acquiring below the post-contract value." A brief moment. "I want to move today."

Vincent was quiet for a moment. The particular quiet of someone reassessing what they were dealing with.

"I’ll have Patricia the documents by noon," he said.

"Good," Xavier said. And hung up.

He spent the morning on campus.

Not because he had lectures that needed attending. He’d been managing his attendance with the particular minimum required to stay enrolled without attracting administrative attention. Just because campus was still the base and he hadn’t been properly present in it for days and Kelvin had texted three times with increasing levels of theatrical concern.

He’d dropped the Panamera off for servicing first thing. The dealer had sent a reminder the previous week and he’d been putting it off. A courtesy car had been offered. He’d declined and taken a cab instead.

[ REBATE SYSTEM ]

Transaction Detected: $22 spent on cab fare

Base Multiplier (Tier 2): 2x

Total Return: $44

[ Net Balance: $5,713,970.00 → $5,714,014.00 ]

He walked through the campus gate at 10AM and felt the particular difference of arriving on foot rather than from the car park. Smaller somehow. More ordinary. The way campus had felt before the Panamera existed.

Good, he thought. Don’t get too comfortable with any one version of things. Not that I couldn’t get another let’s be modest shall we.

He found Kelvin outside the Food and Nutrition block almost immediately.

"You’re alive," Kelvin said.

"Apparently," Xavier said.

"I texted three times," Kelvin said.

"I saw," Xavier said.

"And...." Kelvin said.

"And I’m here now," Xavier said. "That’s the response."

Kelvin looked at him for a moment with the expression he wore when he was deciding whether to push further. He decided not to. He’d gotten better at that recently.

"Amira’s inside," he said. "She has a thing about the Kenvale General meeting preparation. Something about committee formatting."

"I know," Xavier said. "I read the updated outline last night."

Kelvin looked at him. "Of course you did." He fell into step beside Xavier as they headed inside. "The car’s not in the car park today."

"Had to run some maintenance ," Xavier said. "Need to be in top form ."

"Right," Kelvin said. Then after a moment "Xavier."

"Kelvin?." He replied.

"You seem different this week," Kelvin said. "Even from last week. And last week you already seemed different from the week before." He paused. "It’s like watching someone upgrade in real time."

Accurate, Xavier thought. More accurate than you know.

"Go to your lecture Kelvin," he said.

"I don’t have one until..."

"Go anyway shuu," he said.

Kelvin pointed at him once. Turned. Walked away with the dignified retreat of someone who had made their observation and was comfortable with how it had landed.

Amira was at her usual desk with her tablet and her glasses and the particular focused energy of someone who had been working since before the building opened.

She looked up when Xavier sat down.

"The committee formatting," she said immediately. "The Kenvale General research committee wants the outcome projections in a specific table format that Meridian Research Partners didn’t use in the first draft."

"Send me the specification," Xavier said. "I’ll have Meridian revise it today."

She looked at him. "Today."

"Today," he said.

She held his gaze for a moment. Then sent the specification from her tablet to his phone without further argument.