The steel giants had fallen. Their factories hummed under new management, their dynasties reduced to footnotes. But Arthur knew—steel was just bones. To control a continent, he needed blood, and in modern times, blood was energy.
North America was addicted to oil and gas, and those who held the pipelines were gods in suits. Old families whose ancestors had drilled the first wells in Texas, conglomerates born from the ashes of Standard Oil, and new power brokers who controlled renewable grids and nuclear reactors. Unlike the steel barons, these weren't complacent. They were sharp, vicious, and politically entrenched.
And they had already heard of Arthur Ashford.
The Gathering Storm
In Houston, a meeting of the "Energy Council" was called in a private skyscraper, attended by CEOs, oil princes, and politicians alike.
"Who is this boy?" one Texan drawled, cigar smoke clouding the room. "A fancy banker with too many women? Let him try to play in our fields—we'll bury him in crude before he breathes Texas air."
Others nodded. "We own the lobby. We own the ports. He can't move a barrel without us."
But one old man, wrinkled and pale, shifted uncomfortably. "The steel barons said the same thing," he muttered. "Now their names are gone."
The room fell silent.
Arthur's First Strike
Arthur didn't come at them directly. Instead, he took the grid.
Eva, using her cyber reach, exposed vulnerabilities in power stations. She hacked into smart grids, redirecting flows and causing "blackouts" in key cities.
Summer stepped in as the "solution," offering clean energy networks powered by Arthur's secretly purchased solar and wind firms. Governments, desperate for stability, began to lean on him.
Aurora, wielding her authority over royal and aristocratic ties, pulled strings internationally—foreign oil families suddenly shifted support toward Arthur, starving the American dynasties of their allies.
Within weeks, Arthur controlled 20% of the energy market without drilling a single well.
The Oil War
The oil titans fought back. Refineries exploded in "accidents." Convoys of fuel trucks were hijacked on highways. Politicians began denouncing Arthur as a "foreign-backed usurper."
Arthur responded with fire.
Jessie unleashed the shadow of the military industrial complex—contracts for new vehicles, warships, and bases went only to companies aligned with the Empire.
Candy turned the public against the old oil families. Documentaries exposed oil spills, worker exploitation, and ties to violent militias. The people demanded change.
Nora… visited the loudest senator opposing Arthur. He returned to Congress a shaken man, suddenly silent on the issue.
But Arthur's true masterstroke came in Alaska.
Using funds funneled from Foxy's banking conquests, he bought vast tracts of Alaskan drilling land through shell companies. By the time the oil barons realized, Arthur owned the future reserves they had been banking on.
Blood in the Boardroom
The final confrontation wasn't fought in markets or streets—it was fought in the Energy Council's own headquarters in Houston.
Arthur arrived uninvited, dressed in black, his Empresses at his side like queens of different realms. The room of old men and their political puppets fell into an uneasy silence as he strode to the head of the table.
"You thought you owned this continent," Arthur said softly, eyes like steel. "But I own your future. Your ports, your reserves, your lobbyists. Even your senators call me before they call you."
One CEO slammed the table. "You arrogant bastard—"
He didn't finish. Nora leaned forward just slightly, and the man's throat closed in a strangled gasp. He collapsed to the floor, trembling, alive but humiliated.
No one else spoke.
Arthur placed a map of North America on the table, marked with energy grids, pipelines, and drilling zones. All bore the Ashford insignia."This is no negotiation," he said. "This is a coronation."
The Empire Burns Brighter
By the end of the year, Arthur controlled nearly 60% of America's energy sector. Oil flowed under his banner, gas pipelines bent to his will, and renewable grids rose under his empire's control. Politicians fell in line, their campaigns funded—or destroyed—at his whim.
The people didn't see tyranny. They saw stability. Gas prices fell, electricity stabilized, and new "green initiatives" painted Arthur as a visionary savior. The Empresses each carved out empires within this vast new dominion, their influence cemented across the continent.
Arthur stood on the balcony of the Empire Tower, gazing at the city glowing below, powered by his will. He whispered to himself:
"Steel was bones. Oil is blood. Next, I will take the heart."
The heart was finance.
And Wall Street had no idea the storm that was coming.