Chapter 79: Who’s First?
Alexander, chewing loudly on a handful of barbecue chips, peered over from his spot by the armchair to see what she was up to, only to spot the machinery she was ordering.
"Wait, Miss April, are you buying that in bulk?" He asked, but didn’t wait for a response before he continued. "Because if you need heavy machinery or manufacturing connections, the Greels logistics lines are completely open to you now. My grandfather explicitly said to give you whatever priority clearance you want. We owe you our lives after all."
"I will keep that in mind, Alexander," April said, not looking up from her screen. "Much appreciated."
"Hey, don’t leave me out of the supply chain," Nat chimed in, slouching further into the cushions, entirely unbothered by Xavier’s freezing glare.
He reached out with a long finger, tapping the edge of her tablet. "You seem to like hoarding. If you want real, military-grade hardware, the clean corporate boys can’t help you." He said. "You come to the Dragon for that. I can get you anything from underground bunkers to automated security grids. For my sweetheart? Flat rate."
April didn’t even blink. She smoothly shifted the tablet away from his finger, her voice a flat, deadpan baseline. "I am not your sunshine or your sweetheart, Mr. Collins. We are strictly business partners. And currently, your presence is actively draining my leisure battery."
Nat burst into a loud, delighted chuckle, throwing his head back against the sofa. "Business partners! Hear that, Reed? She’s keeping it strictly professional."
"The business for the day has been concluded," Xavier stepped directly into Nat’s line of sight, his voice dropping into a freezing, commanding register. "Like you asked, I have shown you to Miss April. Mr. Collins, I believe your presence here has reached its limit."
"Who said business is over?" Nat’s chuckle died down, replaced by a sharp, eager glint behind his adjusted glasses. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "The market crashed yesterday exactly when she said it would. You think I came all the way up this hill just to say hi? I want my next reading."
Alexander instantly stopped chewing his chips, his eyes widening. "Wait... a reading?" He scrambled up from the armchair, looking at April with a sudden, intense desperation. "Miss April, if you’re looking into the future today, the Greels empire needs a reading too. We are still flushing out the remnants of my uncle’s faction, and we need to know where the hidden landmines are."
Xavier remained perfectly still, but his silence was loud. His dark eyes locked onto April. While he didn’t speak with the confidence of the dragon or the frantic urgency of the heir, the steady, unyielding focus of his posture made his intention crystal clear: Reed Industries was not going to be left behind.
April looked at the three powerful men surrounding her sofa. She looked down at her grease-stained fingers, then at the half-empty can of soda. Her peaceful, lazy afternoon was officially dead and buried. There was no escaping the grind.
With a heavy, dramatic sigh, she set her tablet down on the coffee table.
"Fine," April muttered, wiping her hands with a tissue. "Since you are all so eager to empty your bank accounts on my day off..."
Without a single second of warning, she flipped her right hand. In a seamless, brilliant flash of supernatural light, the Crystalline Seer Orb materialized out of thin air, cradled perfectly within her palm.
"...soothe yourself."
The faint, ethereal blue luminescence instantly flooded the sunlit lounge, casting a mystical neon glow across their faces.
Xavier’s pupils sharply contracted. Alexander entirely froze, his jaw dropping so low a piece of chip nearly fell out.
Even though they had benefited from her miraculous predictions before, she had always delivered them casually without using a single medium. They had never seen her manifest a literal, glowing artifact.
I knew they’d be surprised. April thought proudly.
Nat, who had seen it the night before, simply grinned from ear to ear, his shoulders trembling with absolute thrill at what was to come.
April’s eyes reflected the cold blue light of the orb as she looked up.
"Who’s first?" she asked flatly.
"Ooh, me," Nat raised his hand instantly, leaning closer to the crystal ball like a predator spotting its prey. "I’m the one who brought it up after all."
"Today’s pricing is 100 million dollars per insight," April stated, her tone leaving absolutely no room for negotiation. "We know the drill. Check or wire transfer only."
Before she could even finish the sentence, Xavier and Alexander simultaneously reached into their coats, pulling out their sleek corporate checkbooks without a single shred of hesitation.
Nat already had his smartphone out, his thumb resting on the biometric scanner, ready to authorize the transfer before the ink on their checks could even dry.
To these three men, 100 million dollars was a fortune they couldn’t just throw about—but in front of the only legitimate seer in a rapidly fracturing world, it was nothing more than pocket change for a glimpse at the future.
April didn’t waste any time. She fixed her gaze on the glowing crystal ball, the blue system interface instantly flaring to life over the orb.
[Would you like to read Nat Collins fortune?]
[Number of insights left today: 5/5]
Yes,
[System Notice: Eye of Destiny (Rank 2) Activated.]
[Target Fortune: Nat Collins — Strategic Elimination]
The Insight: The Scorpion Gang is panicking due to the rapid destruction of their perimeter routes. Within forty-eight hours, they plan to stage a desperate, high-firepower ambush at the Golden Dragon’s primary smuggling harbor, hoping to assassinate Nat. Knowing this, Nat can easily flip the script, turning their ambush into a brutal slaughter for his own amusement.
"Mr. Collins, your rivals, the Scorpions are backed into a corner because of your recent movements," April stated flatly, her eyes reflecting the neon blue glow. "They are planning a high-firepower ambush at your primary smuggling harbor in forty-eight hours."
Xavier narrowed his eyes at this news. To think he would have to listen to an illegal transaction about to lay out and not even want to do anything about it. It had nothing to do with him anyway. He wasn’t a cop or a law enforcer. Everyone just had to mind their own business.
"They like to think of themselves as the hunters and you the prey, Mr. Collins." April continued. "But if you rearrange your enforcers now, you can turn that harbor into their graveyard."
Nat’s eyes lit up with a terrifying, ecstatic glow. He authorized the 100 million wire transfer with a heavy thump of his thumb against his phone screen.
"Terrific," he whispered, a dark chuckle rattling his throat. "A graveyard it is."
April’s titanium pro kit up beside her and her eyes looked down to see the notification. Her account balance at this point, after having spent so much on online shopping, was still at around 499 million. She hadn’t started the real heavy movements, that’s why she wasn’t feeling the debit yet.
Once the real heavy movements began, her account would start draining like water.
Next was Alexander. He hastily shoved a signed check for 100 million across the table. April swept her hand over the orb, resetting the reading.
[Would you like to read Alexander Greels’ fortune?]
[Number of insights left today: 4/5]
Yes,
[System Notice: Eye of Destiny (Rank 2) Activated.]
[Target Fortune: Alexander Greels — Asset Liquidation]
The Insight: Harvey Greels has hidden his emergency offshore routing numbers and physical deeds inside the mechanical gears of the antique grandfather clock in the main Greels estate study. He has sent two of his men to hastily retrieve it by tonight. Retrieving these will give him an edge over Robert and Alexander Greels but if Alexander retrieves it first, it will completely freeze his ability to bribe officials and secure his absolute ruin.
It was the precise information Alexander wanted to hear.
"Your uncle Harvey still has a hidden lifeline," April told a breathless Alexander. "Go to the antique grandfather clock in your family’s main study. Open the mechanical housing behind the gears. His emergency offshore accounts and physical asset deeds are hidden inside. Take them before tonight, and he will never buy his way out of that cell."
Alexander gasped, clutching his chest. "I’m calling my grandfather right now," he muttered, completely awestruck. He’s had her reading before but it blew his mind every single time.
Finally, April’s gaze shifted to Xavier. He didn’t speak; he simply slid his own flawless check onto the sofa beside her. April took a deep breath, focusing the Rank 2 system entirely on the powerful CEO standing before her.
[Would you like to read Xavier Reed’s fortune?]
[Number of insights left today: 3/5]
Yes,
The neon screen shattered and reformed, and as April read the high-definition data, her eyes suddenly widened slightly.
