[LOCATION:
NETHER-CORE TOWER — EXECUTIVE BOARDROOM]
[TIME: 04:17 AM]
The book closed with a wet thud.
Zhou was gone. Not dead—something worse. His soul was ink now, permanently calculating interest on a debt he'd never escape.
Ren Wu settled into the Chairman's seat. The leather was still warm from Zhou's body heat.
Four executives hugged the wall like they were trying to phase through it. Their thousand-dollar suits were soaked with ghost sweat. The weasel-faced one "Lin" was shaking so hard his gold watch rattled.
Ren ignored them. He was busy organizing the papers Zhou had scattered during his meltdown.
The silence got heavy. Uncomfortable.
Lin cracked first. "Mr. Ren, please—we had no idea Zhou was cooking the books. We were just following orders—"
"Stop."
Ren's voice was quiet. Almost gentle.
But Lin's mouth snapped shut.
"I don't tolerate lies in my boardroom." Ren pulled out a manila folder that definitely hadn't been in his jacket a second ago. Too thick. Too old. The edges were yellow with age.
He opened it like he was reading the morning news.
"Lin. You've been skimming soul fragments from the pension fund. Three years. Current theft: 340,000 Spirit Silver."
Lin went white. "That's... I never..."
Ren flipped a page. "Qian. You sold sixty-three employee souls to the Corpse Mines. Forged their transfer letters. Been collecting their paychecks ever since."
The sharp-faced woman next to Lin made a strangled noise.
"Fang. Insider trading. You leaked merger intel to Bone Market Consortium. Payment: priority processing for your son's resurrection application."
Fang's legs gave out. He caught himself on the wall, barely.
"Director Wei." Ren looked at the silver-haired ghost who'd stayed quiet through all of this. "You're clean."
Wei blinked. "Sir?"
"Fourteen years of honest work. Filed six complaints about Zhou's methods. Modest debt. You even donate to the Orphaned Souls Foundation." Ren closed the folder with a snap. "You're fired."
"What?" Wei's professional mask cracked. "But you just said I was clean!"
"You are. Which means you're useless to me." Ren's eyes were cold. "Clean people don't have leverage. You may leave with your severance. The others stay."
He gestured toward the door. "Severance package is on your desk. Don't let the door hit you."
Wei grabbed his briefcase and practically sprinted out.
The three remaining executives looked like they wanted to follow him.
Ren reached into his jacket again. This time he produced four sheets of parchment—real parchment, not paper. The kind made from something that had once been alive. The writing moved when you weren't looking directly at it.
He slid three sheets across the polished table.
They stopped exactly in front of Lin, Qian, and Fang.
"You have two options," Ren said. "Read carefully."
Lin's hands shook as he picked up the contract.
Option A: Follow Zhou into the Ledger. All assets liquidated. Soul converted to company credit at market rate.
Option B: Sign Vassal Employment Contract. Keep position and salary. During business hours (defined as: whenever I say), your free will becomes company property. Resignation not accepted. Contract terminates upon natural soul death or my discretion.
Signing bonus: Continued existence.
"This is slavery," Qian whispered.
"No," Ren corrected. "Slaves don't get weekends off."
"You can't make us—"
Ren drummed his fingers on the Black Ledger.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Qian snatched a pen like it was a lifeline.
All three signed. The moment ink hit parchment, the contracts ignited with cold blue light that sank into their chests like brands. They gasped. When they looked up, their eyes had a faint blue shimmer.
[VASSAL CONTRACTS: BINDING]
[LOYALTY: ENFORCED]
[FREE WILL: SUSPENDED DURING WORK HOURS]
"Congratulations on your promotion," Ren said. "You're senior management now. Don't disappoint me."
Lin stared at his hands like they belonged to someone else. "What did you do to us?"
"Employee retention program. Very modern." Ren stood, brushing invisible lint off his sleeve. "Now get out. I have work to do."
They stumbled toward the exit like zombies.
Ren walked to the windows. Fifty floors down, Sector 9 sprawled like an infected wound—grey factories, smog-choked streets, souls moving like ants through the industrial maze.
Perfect.
"Sir?"
Ren turned. A young guy stood in the doorway, clutching a tablet like a shield. Early twenties. Thin. Cheap suit that looked borrowed from his dad.
His name tag read: HAN - JUNIOR ACCOUNTANT LVL 2.
"Everyone else ran," Ren observed. "You didn't."
Han swallowed hard. "The hard drives, sir. When they started looting, I disconnected the backup servers. If they'd pulled them during sync, we would've lost everything. Client data. Contracts."
He held up the tablet. "I encrypted everything. Portable. Figured... whoever took over would need the data."
Ren studied him.
[JUDGMENT EYE: ACTIVE]
[TARGET: HAN RUI]
[COMPETENCE: ADEQUATE]
[SURVIVAL INSTINCT: EXCELLENT]
[LOYALTY: UNKNOWN]
"What do you make?" Ren asked.
"3,200 Spirit Silver a year, sir."
"Zhou's salary?"
"840,000. Plus options."
Ren pointed at Zhou's chair—massive black leather that still smelled like expensive cologne and fear.
"Sit."
Han froze. "Sir?"
"I don't repeat myself."
"But I'm Level 2. I've been here eight months. I don't have the certifications—"
"Five minutes ago Zhou ruled this building like a god," Ren cut him off. "Now he's a footnote in my book. Things change fast around here. Sit."
Han sat. The chair swallowed him. His feet barely touched the floor.
Ren leaned against the table. "Acting Branch Manager. 80,000 salary. You report to me. Questions?"
Han looked like he might faint. "I... sir, I don't know what to say."
"'Yes sir' works fine."
"Yes sir!"
"Good. Pull up building schematics."
Han's fingers flew over the tablet. "Done. What are you looking for?"
Ren didn't answer. He put his palm flat on the boardroom table.
Ren closed his eyes. Let his consciousness sink into the building's bones.
The Tower wasn't just built on an Earth Meridian—it was feeding on it. Sucking spiritual energy like a parasite and converting it to cheap power for the coffee makers and fluorescent lights.
The meridian was dying. Poisoned. And when Earth Meridians died, everything connected to them rotted.
No wonder the elevators moved like they were underwater. No wonder the lights flickered. No wonder the top floors had been "under construction" for five years.
"Hold onto something," Ren said.
"What—"
[SOVEREIGN DECREE: STRUCTURAL PURGE]
Golden fire erupted from Ren's palm. It raced through the wood grain like molten veins. The fire spread—through the walls, the floor, the ceiling. The entire building shuddered.
Han yelped and grabbed the chair arms.
Throughout the Tower, elevators accelerated. Lights steadied. The oppressive wrongness in the air vanished. Outside, the smog was pushed back by a golden barrier.
Han stared out the window. "What the hell did you just do?"
"Urban planning." Ren pulled his hand back. The gold light faded to nothing. "Building was sick. Now it's not."
He straightened his tie. "Revenue projections. Q4. Now."
Han scrambled to comply. "Sir, they're... bad. With predatory lending shut down, we're looking at 90% revenue loss. Six weeks until bankruptcy."
"Excellent."
"Excellent?"
"Zhou was an idiot. He robbed homeless people." Ren walked to the window, hands behind his back. "Homeless people don't have money. That's what makes them homeless."
He studied the streets below. "What moves through Sector 9?"
Han blinked. "Souls, mostly. It's a transit zone. Living souls heading to judgment, dead souls returning for reincarnation, smugglers moving contraband—"
"Smugglers. Details."
"Sector 9 is... grey area, sir. Light enforcement. Black market goods, unregistered spirits, illegal Earth imports—it all flows through here. Capital ignores it as long as nobody makes noise."
Ren smiled. It was not a nice smile.
"Then we're in thelogistics business now."
"I don't follow."
"We declare this Tower a Sanctuary. Anyone moving product through Sector 9 pays transit tax. Protection fee. They pay, they move safely. They don't pay..."
He tapped the window.
Outside, the two Golems stood sentry, blue eyes scanning the street like searchlights.
"...they don't move at all."
Han's face went pale. "Sir, the smuggling syndicates won't just accept—"
"They will. I'm not robbing them. I'm providing a service." Ren turned back to the room. "No more preying on the desperate. From now on, we tax the wealthy."
BUZZ.
Zhou's platinum phone vibrated against the table like an angry wasp.
Han glanced at the display. "Alchemist Consortium. Zhou's biggest creditor."
Ren picked up the phone. Hit speaker.
"Zhou." The voice was ice-cold. Professional. "Payment is 43 hours overdue. Grace period expired. Liquidation team deploys in one hour."
"Zhou has been liquidated," Ren said conversationally. "New management speaking."
Pause.
"Identify yourself."
"Ren Wu. Acting Chairman."
"Mr. Wu, outstanding debt is 4.2 million Spirit Silver. Secured against Tower and all assets. Payment due immediately or we seize collateral."
"I'm restructuring the debt."
"Restructuring requires formal application—"
"My counter-offer is zero."
Longer pause. "Excuse me?"
"Zhou incurred the debt. Zhou no longer exists. Debt is void."
"That's not how—"
"Contract's canceled too. Send termination papers to..." Ren looked at Han.
"2247 Meridian Avenue," Han whispered.
"You heard him." Ren's tone was pleasant. Like ordering coffee.
"You arrogant little worm," the voice cracked. "Do you have any concept of who you're dealing with?"
Ren hung up.
Set the phone down gently.
Han looked like he might throw up. "Sir, they'll send armed collectors—"
"Liquidation squad. I know." Ren headed for the door. "Perfect timing."
"Perfect?"
"I need to field-test the new security system." Ren paused at the doorway. "Company memo: All staff return by 9 AM. Anyone who stole company property has 24 hours to bring it back. After that, it's theft."
"What if they don't return it?"
Ren's smile was pure predator.
"Then I collect more than property."
[NETHER-CORE TOWER: SECURED]
[BUSINESS MODEL: RESTRUCTURED]
[HOSTILE TAKEOVER: COMPLETE]
[INCOMING THREAT: LIQUIDATION SQUAD]
[ETA: 58 MINUTES]