Kenzii glanced up toward the door of his private office as his two cousins strolled inside without knocking. His eyebrow arched slightly—it had been a considerable amount of time since the two had last barged into his workspace unannounced.
Truth be told, the three cousins barely saw each other these days, despite sharing the same condo unit. Each of them was relentlessly swamped with their respective responsibilities within the Monteriel conglomerate. Exactly as Don Hidalgo had dictated, they were pushing themselves to their absolute limits to secure massive leverage and cement their authority within the corporate empire. For months, this grueling, non-stop grind had become their daily reality. The only time they ever managed to sit down for a prolonged conversation was whenever Kenzii was assigned a mission.
Kenzii's recent string of missions assigned by the demon had been surprisingly manageable. The target profiles carried difficulty ratings hovering casually between 20 to 30 percent. With those low-tier parameters, Kenzii—backed by the sharp intelligence and tactical support of Sota and Alas—usually wrapped up within a day or two.
"Cuz, you're not gonna believe what this guy just said!" Alas blurted out before even settling into a single sofa.
Kenzii shifted his gaze from his laptop screen over to his cousin.
"Our very own Sota—the corporate saint himself—just invited us out to a bar!" Alas exclaimed, slapping his thigh in pure disbelief, thoroughly entertained by the fact that their oldest cousin was actively suggesting alcohol.
Kenzii raised a single eyebrow, his gaze drifting from Alas over to Sota, who was already shooting Alas an utterly annoyed glare.
"What's the huge deal, you idiot?" Sota rolled his eyes, adjusting his cuffs.
Alas gasped dramatically, looking at Sota as if the man had just spoken in a foreign language.
"What's the huge deal?! Hey, in your entire workaholic, corporate-obsessed life, you have never invited anyone out for drinks! I didn't even think you knew what beer tasted like!" Alas shot back, pointing an accusing finger at Sota. "And now you're asking us out to a bar? Isn't that suspicious?" Alas paused, his eyes widening in mock realization as he pointed at Sota while turning to Kenzii. "Wait a minute... don't tell me you're heartbroken?!"
Sota's eyes dilated in sheer outrage. Since he was sitting out of arm's reach, he grabbed a box of tissues from the corner desk and throw it straight at Alas.
"Shut up, you moron!"
"Ow! What was that for? I'm asking a genuine question!" Alas whined, rubbing his forehead where the tissue box had grazed him.
"I just want a change of environment for once, okay? You overthink everything," Sota snapped, letting out a sharp sigh before turning to Kenzii. "Forget him, Ken. Let's just go, the two of us. We're leaving this drama queen behind."
"Hey! I was the first one you asked, you ungrateful bastard!" Alas yelled, prompting low chuckles from both Kenzii and Sota.
.
"So, what's the real reason you called this thing?" Alas asked once the three of them settled into the dimly lit, leather-boothed VIP section of an exclusive high-end bar.
They opted for modest bottles of imported craft beer rather than hard liquor. None of them had come with the intention of getting drunk; they simply wanted a rare moment to kick back together as brothers.
"Hmm. Like I said... just needed a different environment," Sota replied quietly, taking a small sip from his bottle. He grimaced subtly, clearly unaccustomed to the sharp bitterness.
Sota was more into vintage wines and fine champagne. He hadn't touched beer since that wild night out with Cariz's group back in the Czech Republic.
"You already gave us that corporate line earlier, man," Alas scoffed, taking a long swig from his own bottle. "A guy like you doesn't actively seek out a 'change of environment' or a different vibe without a massive trigger. So spill it. What's going on?"
Sota stared down at his green glass bottle, slowly swirling it in his hands as if watching the amber liquid slosh against the glass. He let out a long, weary exhale.
"I'm under intense pressure," Sota admitted plainly.
Both Alas and Kenzii narrowed their eyes at him.
"Pressure? You've been living under corporate pressure since you were in diapers," Alas remarked, genuinely puzzled. "What makes right now any different?"
While Alas struggled to grasp the weight of it, Kenzii silently read between the lines. He leaned back against the plush velvet sofa, his dark eyes locked on Sota.
"You're under pressure because the board game has changed, isn't it?" Kenzii spoke up quietly, drawing the attention of both cousins. "This isn't just routine corporate management anymore. The stakes are catastrophic now. If you don't pour every single drop of your soul into this move, everything we've built can be ripped away from us in a single split second."
Sota let out a quiet breath, a faint, melancholic smile playing on his lips. Kenzii had hit the bullseye. Alas let out a slow "Ah..." as the reality finally clicked, his gaze shifting back to Sota with renewed seriousness.
"Right," Sota murmured, setting his beer bottle on the marble table. "Tomorrow afternoon, I will sign a single deal that will permanently alter the trajectory of our family's power—and my standing as one of the heads of the conglomerate."
"What deal are we talking about, cuz?" Alas asked, leaning forward.
Sota took a deep breath, his tone shifting into the crisp, lethal composure of the COO.
"The government is officially closing the bids for the Archipelago National Logistics Gateway Project. It's a nation-building infrastructure deal. For the past six months, I've been quietly executing an aggressive corporate strategy—maneuvering through regulatory bodies, out-bidding foreign consortiums, and squeezing rival conglomerates out of the race. Tomorrow, Monteriel Group signs an exclusive 50-year concession contract to construct, operate, and control the largest deepwater port network, automated logistics hubs, and tollway systems across the entire country."
Alas blinked, taking a moment to process the scale. "Wait... so you basically just secured a complete monopoly on national trade?"
"Precisely," Sota confirmed, his voice dropping an octave. "Every single commercial asset, raw material, or imported cargo entering or leaving this country will have to pass through a facility owned and operated by Monteriel Group. It's a masterstroke that places us far beyond the reach of any rival family in Southeast Asia."
Sota paused, leaning closer so his voice wouldn't carry past the VIP glass partition.
"And here is the dark twist: behind the legal 50-year government concession, I am engineering the operational architecture of those deepwater ports and automated logistics hubs myself. I will build blind spots into the system—unregistered cargo lanes and off-grid warehouses. With this monopoly, our family will gain absolute, invisible control to move, store, or smuggle anything we want across borders without a single federal authority or customs agent ever knowing."
Alas gasped softly, a wide, thrilled grin breaking across his face. "Holy shit, Sota... that's insane! That's an absolute win!"
"It sounds like a triumph on paper, Alas," Sota replied, his tone heavy with exhaustion. "But a crown that heavy comes with severe consequences. The pros are obvious—it will give us total economic dominance, secure grandpa's backing, and effectively guarantee my ascension as the indisputable heir to the conglomerate. But the cons... the cons are lethal."
Sota picked up his beer, swirling it again.
"To secure the government's signatures, I had to leverage billions in corporate debt and pledge an enormous portion of our subsidiary liquid assets as collateral. If a single phase of this project gets delayed, or if our internal family rivals sabotage the supply chain, the financial fallout will be catastrophic. The family board of directors will use the debt collapse to force grandfather out, stripped of his head title, and drag me down with him for corporate negligence."
Sota looked up at both of them, his eyes reflecting the deep stress he had been carrying alone for months.
"On top of that, the rival conglomerates I crushed during the bidding process aren't going to take this lying down. I've essentially painted a massive bullseye on my back. They can't beat me in the boardroom anymore, which means they will resort to political smear campaigns, manufactured federal audits, or outright physical violence."
Silence settled over the VIP booth as the gravity of Sota's words sank in.
Alas lowered his head, his previous playful demeanor completely vanishing. He understood corporate warfare, but hearing the sheer magnitude of what Sota was risking made his blood run cold. Alas was pushing himself in his own department to secure his title, and Kenzii was shedding blood on missions to ensure their family stays alive and he was also participating himself to the corporate work just like his cousins. They were all pulling their weight, carving out their own blood-stained footholds to keep the family afloat.
Kenzii reached out, his hand wrapping around his beer bottle as he clinked it against Sota's drink.
"You won't fall, Sota," Kenzii said flatly, his voice laced with absolute conviction. "You built the trap, which means you control the outcome. If any of those rival bastards or family traitors try to pull a move on you or sabotage that project..."
Kenzii's eyes darkened slightly, the cold aura of the Soul Collector flickering beneath his calm facade.
"...I'll personally make sure they don't live long enough to see the market open."
Sota looked at Kenzii, the crushing weight on his shoulders easing just a fraction. He offered a genuine, subtle nod.
Alas clinked his bottle against theirs, a fierce, reckless grin returning to his lips. "Damn right, cuz! If anyone tries to mess with your logistics network, they'll have to go through us first."
As the three cousins drank together in the quiet luxury of the VIP lounge, the unspoken bond between them burned brighter than ever. They were walking a razor's edge—balancing corporate greed, dark family crimes, and deadly contracts. But as long as the three of them stood united, no empire could break them.