The phone clunked back down, but the order Jack just barked—"Get me David Karras. Tell him we're finishing Project Chimera in Seoul!"—felt huge. It was like a seismic wave! Everything went dead quiet, except for the server hum deep down in the building, still running the numbers for a company that was basically toast.
Jack didn't actually have the four hundred million dollars. Sure, he had twenty billion sitting around, but the banks—JPMorgan, Deutsche Bank, all those hostile creditors—had everything frozen and collateralized. Moving that much cash in one lump sum? That'd be like waving a huge red flag at a pack of hungry wolves!
So he leaned back, pulling the keyboard closer. This wasn't real estate; this was high-level financial cleverness. He used his old banker tricks, remembering every loophole and tiny timing gap banks allowed during global transfers. He didn't need to hide the money; he needed to make it look like a series of scheduled, totally boring operational expenses.
His fingers flew across the keyboard, accessing the Stark Group's ancient, but terrifyingly powerful, treasury systems. He zapped the money in twenty-two separate transfers to all sorts of small Stark subsidiaries across three continents. Each transfer was timed a minute apart, ranging from $15 million to $25 million, meticulously labeled with archaic internal codes corresponding to overdue bills and emergency deposits.
He engineered a digital shell game! The Seoul account got fed by seven of those intermediate accounts, structured to settle over a three-hour window. It was aggressive, manipulative, and totally legal—a classic move to maximize float and minimize detection. Jack smiled, a thin, cold expression that Andy Stark's face had never worn. That was his language.
Just as the final transfer blinked green—success!—the door swung open without a knock.
David Karras walked in, or rather, filled the room. The guy was huge, built like a retired boxer, with a face that looked like hard stone. He was the Chief of Construction—the guy responsible for the Stark Group's legendary, breakneck speed. Karras looked at Jack/Andy, saw the mess, and his eyes instantly narrowed. "They said you wanted me, Andy," he challenged, his voice all low and gravelly. "And they mentioned Seoul? That project's totally dead. It needs four hundred million we don't have, and honestly, we don't need a kid messing around with terminal dust right now."
Jack stood up, forcing Karras to look up a bit. He spoke with the absolute clarity of an instruction manual.
"The four hundred million is moving right now, David. It's hitting the Seoul account over the next three hours. Get on the jet in ninety minutes. Chimera is 92% finished, with a guaranteed 60% profit in 75 days!"
Karras was stunned silent. He didn't blink at the money, but at the sheer precision of the timeline. "Who gave you that estimate?" Karras asked, his voice now flat, calculating. "Sixty percent in seventy-five days is…"
"Impossible, unless you're the Stark Group," Jack shot back, leaning in just slightly. "I'm giving you back your mandate, David. Chimera needs to be the fastest billion-dollar turnaround ever. I don't care how you do it. I care that it's done. And if you deliver, you get free reign on the next five jobs."
Karras studied the young man's eyes—they weren't drunk or sad; they were icy cold. A slow, dangerous grin spread across his face. "Sixty percent in seventy-five days. Yeah, that'll shut up American Express for a week. Alright, Boss. Ninety minutes. Don't be late." Karras turned and left, his massive frame radiating renewed purpose. The construction engine had found its new fuel.
Jack felt a flicker of relief, but the clock was still ticking. As he changed out of the alcohol-soaked suit and into a tailored, travel-ready ensemble, his mind was already turning toward the next, necessary targets—the ones that could start chipping away at the $400 billion debt hole. Chimera was just a skirmish; he needed a war chest.
As the Stark Group's sleek Gulfstream G650 climbed rapidly over the Atlantic, Jack settled into the plush seat and called up the System.
"System: Okay, give me the best projects left. I need at least a 200% profit and cash back in four months, max!"
The System delivered instantly. One project screamed with opportunity: Project Atlas.
Location: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – The Red Sea Coast.
Completion Status: 78%.
Capital Required to Finish:$1.2 Billion (US)
Projected ROI: A massive 285% (a $3.85 Billion return!)
Time to Liquidity: 110 Days.
Holy cow! That project could inject $2.65 billion in net profit in under four months—enough to buy serious leverage and silence the smaller creditors. But he needed a billion dollars! He just spent $400 million on Chimera. He needed a cash injection right now to fund the even more impossible Saudi project.
"System: Find me a guaranteed cash hit in 30 days! Liquidity must be guaranteed."
The System delivered one final, startling result. It wasn't a building! It was a stock fund: the North American Retail REIT (NAR REIT). The System knew the exact date the market would correct and the inevitable, massive institutional buyout that was coming.
Capital Required: $50 Million (The most he could scrape together safely).
Projected ROI (Liquidation at Peak):400%!
Time to Liquidity/Return: 28 Days.
Four hundred percent return on a $50 million investment in less than a month! This was like insider trading with the universe. It was the only way to fund Project Atlas.
Jack leaned back, the plan now crystal clear: Chimera buys him time. The NAR REIT buys him the capital for Atlas. And Atlas buys him the leverage to survive the six-month deadline. He was operating on a timeline of months where he used to work in years.
He reached for the jet's satellite phone, dialing David Karras in the cockpit. "David, I need you to add two people to the Seoul manifest, immediately. Our Chief Financial Officer, and our Head of Investor Relations. Tell them we're having a strategy meeting at thirty thousand feet. This isn't just about construction anymore. It's about war!"