The inclusion of the Blackwood Syndicate’s multi-billion dollar industrial resource routes completed Leon’s absolute monopoly over global shipping and raw logistics. The Sovereign Group was no longer just a company inside the financial district; it had transformed into a towering global titan. The central projection screens inside Leon’s office suite flashed rapidly, displaying live stock indices from the Western and Eastern markets, all shifting into deep, roaring green metrics.Leon stood at the wide glass terrace of the Obsidian Tower, looking down at the endless expanse of the city. He wore a crisp, custom-tailored dark charcoal three-piece suit with gold dragon cufflinks, his hands resting casually inside his pockets. His face was a mask of cold, unshakeable indifference, completely unaffected by the sudden international fame that filled the headlines.Buzz.A sharp, high-priority chime vibrated from his secure smartphone on the marble desk.[Corporate Liquidity Index: 100% Active][Current Border Lockdown: The Continental Banking Federation—the supreme council of the world’s top five central banks—has officially initiated a sudden asset evaluation check on Sovereign’s international reserves, threatening to freeze his global lines if any irregular wealth is found.]A low, chilling laugh broke through Leon’s lips, his eyes narrowing into a dangerous, dark line. "They think they can use financial technicalities to cage a dragon? Arrogant old fools."The heavy glass doors slid open with a smooth, silent sweep. Cynthia Murong walked inside, wearing a stunning, tailored wine-red business blazer and black silk trousers. Her face carried an intense expression of absolute concentration as she placed a heavy, gold-embossed black tablet on his desk."The Federation’s supreme envoy has officially arrived, Leon," Cynthia said, her voice smooth but deadly serious. "The Chairman of the Continental Banking Council, Lord Arthur Sterling, has taken over the private VIP vault room at the Central Gold Reserve Bank. He has publicly stated that if the Sovereign Group wishes to avoid an immediate global assets freeze, you must hand over sixty percent of your northern shipping docks and resource networks to their banking pool."Leon didn’t hesitate for a single fraction of a second. He walked over to his desk, adjusted his cuffs with an effortless swagger, and grabbed his long designer trench coat. "Sixty percent? Arthur Sterling has sat on his paper throne for too long if he thinks my gold is soft. Call the escort vehicles. Let’s go show these international bankers who truly owns the currency."At 9:30 PM, the rain returned, washing the clean concrete streets of the banking plaza. A fleet of three armored black luxury SUVs pulled up to the heavily guarded front entrance of the Central Gold Reserve Bank. The entire building was surrounded by tactical security teams wearing high-grade earpieces and holding automatic rifles.Leon stepped out of the vehicle, his presence instantly radiating a heavy, suffocating pressure that forced the bank guards to instinctively lower their gazes. Cynthia walked gracefully right beside him. They passed through the layers of biometric security checks, heading deep into the reinforced vault room located four floors beneath the earth.Sitting at a massive glass table surrounded by walls of solid gold bullion bars was Lord Arthur Sterling. He was a white-haired, aristocratic man in his late fifties with sharp features and an intensely arrogant posture. He was casually looking through private credit logs, entirely ignoring Leon’s arrival as his massive private security detail stood behind him like a wall of iron."Sit down, young man," Arthur said, his voice smooth and dripping with artificial superiority. "I’ve watched your rapid rise over the local cartels. Amusing, but completely irrelevant. In front of the Continental Federation, your eighty-million-dollar gold vein is nothing but a temporary line of credit. Sign the reserve transfer contracts on the table, or I will push a single key and completely freeze every single dollar the Sovereign Group owns across three continents before midnight."A thick, silver-plated digital contract folder was pushed across the table by a guard, stopping right in front of Leon.Leon didn’t even look down at the screen. He casually walked over to a stack of solid gold bullion bars, running his fingers across the cold metal before turning his piercing, icy gaze directly onto the supreme banker."Arthur Sterling," Leon said, his voice low, steady, and terrifyingly calm. "You spent thirty years building a fortress out of other people’s debts, believing your banking license makes you a god. But you forgot that a vault of paper is completely worthless if your own foundation is already drowning in blood."Arthur’s hand froze mid-air, his pen hovering inches above his tablet. His smug expression cracked into a dark glare. "Watch your tongue, you lucky orphan. What could a provincial cleaner possibly know about our reserves?"Leon quietly activated the Eye of Truth, his gaze locking onto Arthur’s figure and the secure encrypted server terminal flashing behind the glass wall. Instantly, the dark translucent screens of the system flashed rapidly, exposing the darkest financial frauds, hidden black-market operations, and absolute ruin of the Continental Banking Federation:[Person: Lord Arthur Sterling][Identity: Chairman of the Continental Banking Federation][Current Crisis: The Federation’s main international gold vault is secretly hollow. Arthur and his council illegally sold off 70% of the physical gold reserves over the past five years to cover a $4 Billion hidden deficit caused by bad investments in shadow cartels. They are desperately trying to hijack Leon’s gold vein tonight to physically fill the vault before the global supreme audit team arrives tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM.][Hidden Objective: The digital logs on Arthur’s tablet are completely forged to hide the missing gold bars.]A brilliant, supreme wave of confidence rushed through Leon’s veins. The unstoppable rulers of global banking weren’t a mountain of iron; they were a hollow house of cards running out of time.Leon walked back to the table, leaning forward until his shadow completely enveloped Arthur’s terminal."The central physical vault in your primary European branch... should we talk about the seventy percent of physical gold bars that are missing from the shelves, Arthur?" Leon whispered, his voice slicing through the silent vault room like a razor blade.Arthur choked on his breath, his face instantly turning a ghostly, deathly pale as he staggered back against his chair. The silver pen slipped from his fingers, clattering onto the glass table. "You... how could you... that information is locked inside a military-grade offline quantum server!"The private security detail immediately reached inside their coats for their weapons, but Cynthia Murong stepped forward with absolute composure, raised her hand, and flashed a global federal audit warrant.BANG!The heavy vault doors were thrown open as thirty elite operators from Sovereign’s private tactical forces poured inside, their automatic weapons instantly locking their red laser sights onto the heads of Arthur’s guards.Leon stood tall, adjusting his silver buttons with a terrifying, supreme aura of absolute authority."Your servers mean nothing to my eyes, Arthur," Leon stated flatly, his voice echoing with undeniable power. "I have already uploaded the live physical density scans of your hollow vault directly to the International Monetary Court ten minutes ago. By the time the markets open tomorrow morning, your central banking license will be permanently revoked."Arthur fell out of his chair onto his knees, his hands trembling violently on the marble floor as all his aristocratic pride dissolved into pure, pathetic terror. If the court order hit, his family’s multi-billion dollar banking dynasty would turn into absolute bankruptcy before noon. "No... please, Chairman Leon! Stop the court transmission! I will grant you absolute, permanent tax-free clearance across all central networks! I will give you a seat on the Supreme Council! Just pull back the data!"Leon looked down at the kneeling banker with a freezing, profound indifference."I don’t need a seat at your table, Arthur," Leon said smoothly, turning his back on him as he walked toward the exit gates. "Sign over absolute control of the Continental Federation’s clearing house network to the Sovereign Group within three minutes. Do it, or spend the rest of your days watching your family name rot inside a federal prison cell."Without wasting a single second, Arthur frantically grabbed the tablet, signing his name with shaking fingers and stamping the digital deed with his private seal, handing over a multi-billion dollar global banking network just to buy his survival.Leon stepped into the elevator alongside Cynthia, the doors closing on the image of the ruined supreme banker weeping on the vault floor. With the global banking and clearing house networks now firmly under his heel, Leon’s golden throne was complete. The financial world was no longer just watching his empire—they were completely trapped beneath his shadow.
Chapter 13: The Golden Throne
The God-Level Appraiser: I Can See The Price of Everything!