Reborn as the Genius Son of the Richest Family

Chapter 1048  Swift retalitation

Building the automobile factory this close to New Sparta, Michael expected some difficulties. He wasn’t naive. He knew that his automobiles would end up clashing with some people’s business, causing them to retaliate.

But he didn’t think they’d go this far. It was well-known that all disputes against companies could only be settled through a good old fashioned Sanctum Duel. One that was fair and honorable to both parties.

Instead of that, they opted to blow up the Automobile Factory.

“Oh my god…” Yuna arrived right next to Michael, watching as the Orcs extinguished the fire from the factory. But it was too late. The explosion destroyed everything except for the foundation.

“This is unacceptable,” she said. “Grandmother will not stand for this.”

This was the exact reason why Xere Montgomery established the Sanctum Duel as global norms. It was to prevent humans from turning into savage beasts. A single misgiving like this could easily escalate to vendettas that last hundreds of years and a sea of spilled blood.

In order to prevent an all-out war, the Montgomerys made sure to enforce a strict Sanctum policy. When companies have disputes, they could not deal with each other without using a Sanctum Duel. The result of that duel must be upheld.

Or else, they’d have to suffer the consequences of a black out. What they meant by that was that they would no longer be protected by the rule of Montgomerys. And without their support, anyone could break their contracts without consequences.

For example, the automobile installments. Because the contract was overseen by Yuna, the responsibility to ensure that contract fell on the Montgomerys. If someone broke those contracts, the Montgomerys would seek justice.

But if for some reason Reborn broke a cardinal rule of the Montgomerys and incurred a black out, then those contracts would be voided, meaning those who bought automobiles would no longer have to pay their monthly dues.

And in the entirety of a company’s lifespan, anyone would have made thousands of those contracts.

So, if one wanted to live in a world dominated by Montgomery rules, one should not ever break it.

“Who would do such a stupid thing?!” Yuna bellowed.

Meanwhile, Michael stayed silent before nodding to himself. There was only one reason why they would act this boldly.

“They don’t need the Montgomerys…,” he muttered.

Yuna gasped. The Ersatz!

It had been proven that the Ersatz could somehow emulate the same power as a Montgomery, creating their own justice system! The Artifice allowed them to do something this bold!

This meant that whoever did this, must be connected to Ersatz.

“I’ll contact my grandma,” Yuna said. “We’ll find who did this—”

“Miss Yuna…,” Narito grumbled. “Bu to to… please let us handle this.”

“Rah ta ta… Lord Michael. Do we have permission to act?”

Michael looked at the two Orc Chieftains and the sea of seething shadows behind them. They hated working construction. They detested working under the bright and intense light of the sun. They wanted nothing more than to be rid of this responsibility.

But that didn’t mean they weren’t proud of what they’d done. They poured their blood, sweat, and tears for its construction. And its destruction meant that all of that hard work, all that sacrifices, were all for naught.

They were never meant to be construction workers. They were creatures of the dark. And thanks to this incident, they’d get the chance to show the world who they were.

“Do it,” he said.

And with those two words, the Shadow Orcs disappeared into their own shadows. All of them. Both Maugnetics and mortals alike. It was going to be an attack even bigger than their invasion in the Stronghold.

Once they were alone, Michael turned to Yuna.

“Yuna—”

She hugged him. Putting his head on her shoulders. “You don’t need to ask. I’ll help you.”

Even without saying anything, she already knew what he wanted to do.

“You want to deal with them in your own way, right?”

He nodded. He didn’t want to fight them. The Shadow Orcs would already do that on their own. No, he wanted to deal with them in their own element. After all, why did they destroy the automobile factory? It was because they were afraid of its potential. They were afraid of the massive change that it was going to create in the world. And with this change, they’d lose their power, their influence, and their wealth.

Michael was going to take a page out of Castelle’s playbook.

They’re afraid of the future? Then he’ll make that come true. He’ll be the harbinger of the future.

…

…

…

It didn’t take long before the Shadow Orcs returned with a name. The Tri-star Beastly Emporium. An Upper Echelon company ranked #41.

They were a company who got their revenue from supplying magical beasts to other companies. They bred, raised, and delivered the fastest steeds among the Upper Echelons. At least, that was before the automobiles arrived.

Reborn disrupted their business. Greatly. They had invested a lot of money in their magical beasts, but all of that was going to be wasted just because of a single company who wasn’t even ranked into the top 200!

They couldn’t let that happen. And it seemed that they’re resentment for Reborn caught the eye of a certain organization. One that offered them a good deal. Receive money, Artifice, and power in exchange for destroying the automobile factory.

It was win-win for them, so they quickly accepted the job. And what did they use to explode the factory? None other than the Artifice themselves.

The Shadow Orcs gathered all of this in just under a few minutes after they disappeared. They even knew the exact layout and location of Tri-star’s headquarters. Their shadows were already permeated throughout their members.

And as it turned out, these sick bastards were using performance-enhancing drugs to their magical beasts, much to the detriment of their health. They even had a slaughterhouse, to dispose of useless and decrepit steeds that would no longer serve their purpose.

An hour after the explosion of the automobile factory, the Tri-star slaughterhouse experienced a similar destructive eruption.

The Shadow Orcs then went to each individual small cell where the magical beasts were stored, and freed them from their chains. They brought them the peace they deserved.

The Tri-star employees scampered to reign in the freed steeds. But their whips no longer had the frightening effect they were used to. Instead, it only made these unfettered beasts angrier.

Suffice it to say, they got their revenge.

The Tri-star Maugnetics tried to use their reality-altering powers to control the situation. But unfortunately for them, shadows appeared behind them with knives already aimed at their throats.

They died, not even knowing what happened.

One must take this into account. These were Upper Echelon members. They were the elite of the elite. Yet, they fell within just a few short minutes of the attack.

The preparations they’d worked so hard to build was destroyed in a single day.

…

…

A few hours before all of this went down, Gabriel’s father was alerted to something. “Master Vanderbilt. We’ve just received word that the automobile factory has been destroyed!”

He’d instructed his spies to monitor the factory, learn its ways. And because of that, he unexpectedly caught on to the explosion the very moment it happened.

He leaned his hands on the table. This is exactly what he’d feared. He knew it was only a matter of time until someone had enough of the changes in society.

“This is a tough lesson for them,” he muttered. “But one that would hopefully open their eyes to the truth.”

He then waved his hand, and a figure flashed beside him. “Escort me to the Rebornian headquarters. I’ll finally speak with the leader of Reborn and offer him our services. Tell our spies to start finding out who attacked them and why. I’ll need at least that to convince them they need our help.”

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…

Gabriel’s father walked into a well-lit room and a menagerie of strange metal artifacts he couldn’t understand.

But he ignored those. Instead, he focused on the people in front of him.

Standing on the left side, he saw the demi-human Maugnetic: Sheina, as she’s called.

Beside her was another famous name. Yuna Montgomery, the darling granddaughter of the famous Xere.

Then right next to her was a human woman who wore a maid costume, which he knew to be Castelle, the CEO of the Reborn company.

And then, there was the person in front of them sitting on the couch opposite him.

A boy, with golden locks of hair and a gaze that was unlike anything he’d ever seen. There was a fierceness there that could not be hidden by his gentle demeanor.

“My name is Joseph Vanderbilt, the current Master of our conglomerate’s Lower Queens region division. And you are… you are Michael,” he presumed.

No matter how absurd it seemed, there could be only one person who should sit at that position.

Michael nodded. “I am.”