Setting the matter of the manuals aside for now, Kaito exhaled softly.
This wave of unexpected progress from his family members lifted a quiet weight from his shoulders.
Now with this much strength at their side… executing his next plans would be far smoother.
Kaito's expression grew cold, His voice dropped into a calm, commanding tone.
"AI, connect to the study's holo-tab. Display a full geospatial map of all registered Velthorn logistics sites—highlight every major warehouse and their headquarters."
Within seconds, the lights dimmed, and a 3D tactical projection lit up above the center table. Dozens of glowing red markers pinged across the virtual map—ten in total, with two particularly large ones pulsing in Silvercrest City. These two represented their main regional warehouses… and at the center of them all pulsed the Velthorn Group's corporate headquarters—a towering node of power and profit.
Kaito turned toward his third uncle.
"Uncle, divide the guards into two strike teams. One will be led by you. The other…"
He paused for a moment, then added with precision,
"Appoint our Rank 2 mid-stage elite, to lead the second."
His third uncle nodded grimly.
"Understood."
"Each team will deploy simultaneously," Kaito continued, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "Assign at least two guards to every listed warehouse. Once in position, initiate full-scale structural sabotage. I want them all… erased—at the exact same time."
The map zoomed in automatically, route paths and strike schedules lining up in sleek interface boxes.
"This first blow won't just crush their operations. It'll gut their financial underbelly—those warehouses are what keep their stock prices stable in the open market."
He tapped the floating control panel once more, a separate folder of encrypted files flickering into view—the black dossier compiled earlier.
"Once the hits are done, I'll have the AI launch this dossier directly onto the civic-net and darknet archives—forums, news nodes, even whistleblower networks."
He looked around the room, his eyes cold but resolute.
"The moment this goes public, their reputation will collapse. And then… we'll finish what they started. One by one, every core member of the Velthorn family—executives, handlers, enforcers—will be eliminated. We cut the roots, burn the weeds, and leave nothing behind."
His uncles shifted slightly, and even his father furrowed his brow. The air felt heavier now.
But Kaito continued:
"And the best part?"
He let out a faint, almost amused breath.
"Because of our family's spotless reputation, no one will suspect us—not even the Federation. We'll be the ones cleaning up the trash... and the public will thank us for it."
There was a brief moment of silence.
The cruelty in Kaito's words contrasted starkly with the honor their family had always upheld. And yet, after reading the contents of the dossier... none of them flinched.
They all knew what the Velthorns were truly capable of. Assassinations, blackmail, disappearances—they'd used every dirty tactic to climb the ladder, hiding behind the pretense of business rivalry. The Ren family's reputation would mean nothing if they stayed passive.
Now, the time for courtesy had ended.
And in that quiet, deadly agreement… a storm began to take shape.
......….
Meanwhile, at the Velthorn Family Villa…
The heavy wooden doors of the Velthorn estate's private study slid open with a low hiss. Inside, the room was bathed in soft amber light, filtered through tinted smartglass windows that stretched from floor to ceiling. Lavish blackwood bookshelves lined the walls, filled more with collector's volumes and antique ledgers than anything scholarly. A holographic fireplace crackled in silence beneath a wall-mounted projection of market graphs and news updates, pulsing with soft neon blue.
At the center of it all, seated behind an obsidian desk shaped like a curved blade, sat Bane Velthorn, the current patriarch of the Velthorn family.
Dressed in a deep navy cyber-silk suit, Bane leaned back in his plush leather recliner with a glass of liquid—non-alcoholic but laced with neural stimulants—resting casually between his fingers. His eyes, cold and calculating, were fixed on a floating map projection of Silvercrest's agricultural sector.
A chime sounded.
The door slid wider, and a man in a tighter-fitting combat jacket stepped in, his boots clicking against the polished darkstone tiles.
"Brother," said the newcomer—Dren Velthorn, Bane's younger brother and the family's more impulsive enforcer. "I've already sent a few of our men to sneak into that patch of land the Ren family bought."
Bane didn't look up.
"And?"
"Security was tighter than expected. They were spotted before even breaching the perimeter. To avoid exposure, they retreated immediately."
"We still don't know what the hell they're up to."
Bane's lips pressed into a thin line, but Dren wasn't done.
"Hmph! Brother, I still don't get it—why are we being so careful with the Rens?"
He crossed the room with heavy steps, fists clenched.
"We've crushed every rival that's stood in our way before—erased them from records and headlines alike. Why not just do the same to this one? Just give me the go-ahead. I'll make sure the Federation's Investigation Bureau doesn't get a whiff of it."
That finally made Bane look up.
"Shut your mouth," he snapped, his voice quiet but razor-sharp.
"How many times do I need to tell you? Don't mention our past operations—not in this room, not anywhere. We're legitimate businessmen now. Paper clean. At least until this Federation scrutiny dies down."
Dren scowled but didn't argue.
Bane stood, walking over to the floating projection of the Ren family's territory. With a flick of his fingers, the interface zoomed in on the farmland sector.
"You think I don't want to finish them?" he muttered, more to himself. "But we've already been flagged once for suspected involvement in prior incidents. If we move too soon, it's not just the Rens who'll burn, it'll be the whole Velthorn legacy."
He pointed at the glowing zone on the map.
"Still… all this movement, all this secrecy… just for a modest farmland investment?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"No. I don't buy it. There's something else going on there."
Bane turned back to Dren, voice clipped and commanding.
"For now, stand down. Find out what they're doing without alerting them. Quietly. Use the Syndicate's contacts if you must—but don't act without my word. If they're hiding something…"
His eyes glinted with malice.
"We should know about it—and then, when the bureau goes away, you can do as you please."
Dren nodded stiffly, lips curling into a cruel smile.
"Understood."
And with that, the brothers returned to their silent plotting.
...….
Back at the Ren Family Mansion
Only Kaito and his second uncle remained in the study. The others had already gone off to handle their respective tasks.
Kaito had personally instructed his father to spend more time at the company so as to avoid any suspicion and also to prepare for the eventual acquisition of Velthorn Logistics. Once the operation concluded, their AI would begin discreetly absorbing market shares by monitoring panic sell-offs and auto-trading at optimal thresholds. When the Velthorns' stock value plummeted—likely tomorrow, after the AI released their damning secrets—Ren Enterprises would swoop in, acquiring their logistics division without resistance.
Meanwhile, his grandfather had returned to the family library, continuing his deep dive into the ancient medical scrolls. His grandmother had already joined him there, fully aware of most of the secrets surrounding the Ren family's current operations.
Earlier, when she—and the other women of the household—learned what the men had been secretly plotting, it had resulted in a scolding loud enough to shake the villa's walls. His mother, aunt, and grandmother had united in their fury.
Kaito chuckled softly at the memory, especially recalling how he had slyly redirected the blame onto his father and grandfather. A tactical retreat, for strategic preservation.
Turning back to business, he looked at his second uncle.
"Uncle, how's the progress on the training facility we planned behind the villa?"
His second uncle, standing by the holo-map with his arms crossed, responded promptly.
"It was handed over to Mei Constructions the same day they began work on the research center. Today's the scheduled handover."
Kaito gave a firm nod.
"Good. I'll begin purchasing the necessary training equipment for the new facility. Once it arrives, I'll leave the installation and setup in your hands."
"Understood."