Following Allan and Altair's departure, the suite grew quiet, or assumedly so. Two distinct noises could be heard deep in the background, acting as an interchangeable ambiance of varying cadence.
The thundering and drawn-out snores of Bastion and Nemean, who were given the rooms furthest from the living room for this reason.
Minutes after the snoring continued with inexhaustible vim, Alice began to furrow her brows.
"How can anyone sleep in this environment? Those two are like hibernating bears with monstrous lungs. They're just so loud!"
Kieran was amused by it all. He agreed they were loud and belligerent, but this time, he didn't place much blame on them. Holding back Daedric, that titan of a man, was exhausting, more tiring than any workout they had endured.
That was simply how much raw power and momentum Daedric generated.
In such a state, Kieran could see how Bastion and Nemean would end up sleeping so deeply their loud snores could shake the room. He wouldn't be surprised if the glass in their room rattled with every snore.
The lightheartedness of this situation made Kieran smile. He knew how brief this kind of temporary high-spirited environment was. His actions were directly plunging them into the maw of the beast—a deeply competitive and frighteningly vile domain.
His people would likely be targeted. They would bleed, suffer and perhaps contemplate surrender. There was no joy in that. More than that, the unusual changes that were gradually effecting this world would somehow make this echelon increasingly violent.
Kieran remembered. He remembered well.
Blood was spilled in the real world for items obtainable in the game.
And many of those people did not believe Zenith Online to be just a game, it was something much greater for them. Many abandoned reality, dismissing the worries that previously consumed them and devoted themselves to the game.
They wholeheartedly embraced Zenith Online, where they were formidable individuals, great forces to be reckoned with.
Now focused, though, Kieran sat up abruptly.
'Wait… I remember. It was a hectic situation. But what I never knew was why. I left the game far too fast. I fell ill far too quickly. The friends I made soon left me behind, abandoning our connections, so, of course, I didn't know. What if the blood spilled was for the exact reason I'm experiencing now…'
Grim realization and potential truth danced in Kieran's mind. What he thought to be changes in the timeline maybe weren't that at all. Perhaps these experiences were stipulated canon events with substitutable subjects he didn't know.
Unlike then, his eyes were opened now. His body was open… absorbing the preternatural information X-hancers held.
Disparate and cryptic, like strands of DNA requiring extensive research to unravel, clusters of truth were hidden inside the harmonic relationship Zenith Online and X-hancers shared.
What in the hell were they?
Did the shadowy forces behind the Behemoths, behind the irrefutable Leviathans, know about this connection? If it was about the future, then yes, Kieran could say with unquestionable certainty that they knew. But… regarding now, he simply did not know.
But he wanted to.
Who could he look to for these answers, though? He did not know any leading figures within the Leviathans, and the Behemoths would not exchange sensitive information like that without absurd amounts of compensation.
Alice, having noticed Kieran's immersed expression, eyes fixated on something intangible and not present, grew curious.
"What is it, Kieran?"
Kieran blinked a few times, dismissing his concerns.
"It's nothing, Stella. Just the worries of a person in charge, I guess. You know what they say about positions of command. It's nothing but stress."
Alice rolled her eyes, as did Lillian.
"That hardly sounds like nothing. But, while I have your attention, the account I set up with Apex Technologies, Inc. has been notified of the product drop. Those virtual pods are being released the moment day breaks. Apparently, there's even a bundle sale. But that's tailored for the obscenely rich."
The mention of Apex Technologies, a grossly funded research division of Summit Projects, with which Gamer Republic, Inc. announced their partnership intrigued Kieran. Usually, it was Gamer Republic that disclosed all new products to garner a tremendous reaction from the target audience.
If Apex Technologies was handling the advertisement itself, then the target audience was exceedingly small. More than that, it meant they were confident the entirety of the targeted crowd would purchase the novel products.
Why they needed such a large influx in revenue and sales that they couldn't wait for Gamer Republic's official announcement? Kieran did not know.
"How rich are we talking?"
"I don't know if you truly want that answer."
Kieran observed Alice, noticing her deep grimace and nodded anyway. She reluctantly agreed.
"The price tags of the premier device—the Blackcrim Series—sporting its Turbolight variation is exorbitant beyond belief. Would you believe me if I said the pod is more than $50 million?"
That price made Kieran gag, but he hid it well.
He had used this model of the virtual pod in the past, but the expenses were covered by Golden Brigade as he brought in revenue tens of times that amount. By then, the price had settled, becoming a bit more accessible.
Over the past few days, weeks even, Kieran had continued to acquire a continuous and steady stream of income. The account linked to his streaming profile—and Zenith Online in general—was flush with funds to the tune of roughly one billion ED.
Kieran needed at least twenty of those pods to realize his following plans.
A proper raid team, an actual elite squad, and the unshakable core of a guild required at least twenty members. A member of that caliber had earned the right to be taken care of.
In the beginning, all expenses would be handled by Kieran as seed investments into their future. An arbitrary investment he could pull any time, given their results were unsatisfactory or they simply didn't put in the effort matching the device or position.
In short, the core team was a fragile position where members could be swapped out at any time.
"We'll start with ten for now. It's not like we have the manpower to fill the vacant positions. In exchange for lowering that number, increase the volume of cheaper models we'll be purchasing. And multiply the number of inexpensive models to further compensate. You can express order the primary order, but have the models be put on standby."
"Understood. But Kieran… where exactly are we going to have them installed? That kind of power… the space… we just don't have a facility capable of that."
Lillian interjected, holding her tablet in hand.
"Actually, that's not entirely true. I've been reviewing several properties at Kieran's behest. The scope has been narrowed repeatedly over the past few days. And some of them are being snatched up quickly, but looked at this."
At the tap of a few buttons and a swipe of her hand, Lillian sent a dense spattering of images and inspection details forward, filling the room with another round of projections.
Many of the images were of barren land, vast and untouched. Those were perfect for building structures from the ground up, but unlike already erect facilities, it took forever to get the building process started.
Permits, audits, inspections—the list of needs went on forever. It was inconceivably endless!
Talking amongst themselves, Kieran and the two ladies quickly narrowed down the potential properties to a manageable five.
Now, only one question remained.
"How fast can we get into any of these potential properties?"
Lillian considered the answer, perusing the contents with meticulous attention to detail until she spotted something fascinating.
"One of these properties is delinquent. One was an investment gone wrong, resulting in the mother companies hemorrhaging funds and exhausting lines of credit. There is another at the last step of foreclosure and repossession."
The first property was already vacant, making it a seamless moving experience, but something felt wrong. Upon looking deeper, Kieran found the property was purposely abandoned due to the difficulty of linking it to an independent power grid. It was built upon faulty infrastructure and would cost a fortune to improve.
It was virtually a demolition project.
Then Kieran looked to the last two properties enduring unfortunate circumstances. Unfortunately for those unlucky people, Kieran would have to profit from their misfortune.
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