The boardroom on the eighty-eighth floor of Zenith SkyTech Tower in Shanghai was unlike anything Jason had ever seen. Glass walls shimmered with quantum-imbued transparency, projecting not only the skyline outside but also encrypted data streams and biometric holograms floating in mid-air. It wasn't a meeting room. It was a war chamber. And Jason had been summoned to it.
He adjusted the cuffs of his tailored obsidian-gray suit—courtesy of System Upgrade: Executive Persona v2—and stepped inside.
Awaiting him were figures whose surnames could tip stock markets by mere rumor: Lin Qianyu of the Lin Conglomerate; Theo Vangarde, heir to the EuroTech Titans; Ibrahim Al-Sayid, controller of the digital oil pipelines across the Middle East; and the mysterious Nakamura twins of Tokyo's Technogen Group. These were heirs and heiresses not just to money—but to influence, to legacy, to hidden power structures.
And Jason had been invited into their circle.
Cassia trailed just behind him, her demeanor cold, calculating. Ever since she learned that Jason had inherited the dormant core of the Infinite Rebirth System, her loyalties had shifted—not out of fear, but out of strategic admiration. She knew that what Jason was becoming could either lead to absolute ascension—or catastrophic collapse.
Jason took a breath, letting the silence build tension, then broke it.
"Why was I summoned?"
Lin Qianyu tilted her head, her icy gaze never blinking. "You bought the entire shadow share registry of Horizon Futures and reversed a decade-long short play in two hours."
Jason said nothing.
Theo Vangarde leaned forward. "That kind of economic power isn't natural. It's... calculated. Systematic. Surgical."
"Are you accusing me of insider manipulation?" Jason asked with a faint smirk.
"No," Qianyu replied. "We're recruiting you."
Jason raised an eyebrow.
Ibrahim spoke next, his voice deep and measured. "The Billionaire Bloodlines aren't just rich families. We're chosen. Each lineage awakened a sleeping protocol during the last Economic Collapse. The Lin's activated the Chrono-Portfolio. We, the Al-Sayid, were granted the Ether Reserves. The Nakamuras inherited the Arcane Net. And the Vangardes... they manipulate algorithmic trends across every smart nation."
Jason's eyes narrowed. "And what exactly do you want with me?"
"Your system is unregistered. Unknown," Theo replied. "And it's evolving faster than anything we've seen."
Jason looked to Cassia, who remained neutral.
"Why me?" he pressed. "There must be thousands of rogue systems."
Lin Qianyu gave a cold smile. "Because you outmaneuvered us all in less than three months. You took over ReGenesis Tech. You cracked the crypto-soul market in East Africa. And you exposed the Mastrivelli Code in Geneva. You're not just surviving—you're disrupting."
Jason exhaled slowly, then leaned on the black marble table. "So what is this? An offer? A threat?"
Ibrahim smiled. "Neither. It's a test."
Suddenly, the room dimmed. A single line of golden code rippled across the ceiling and dropped down as a translucent curtain.
"Welcome to the Nexus of Blood."
Jason's System flared in warning.
[System Alert: Hidden Ritual Detected – Origin Lock Sequence: In Progress]
"What's this?" Jason barked.
Cassia drew her dagger. "They're syncing their bloodlines. It's a test of purity—of system compatibility!"
Qianyu's eyes burned bright gold as glyphs lit across her arms. "To stand with us, Jason, you must endure the Rite of the Primogenitor."
Theo's chair vanished beneath him as his body floated mid-air. Vines of digital energy wrapped around his limbs. "It won't kill you. But if you lie, if your system was stolen, or if you're not truly chosen—it will erase your entire system core."
Jason laughed under his breath.
"You think I came unprepared?"
He snapped his fingers.
[System Function Activated: Genesis Firewall Ω]
A dome of starlit light erupted from his body, intercepting the incoming ritual algorithms.
The room shook.
The Nakamura twins spoke in unison. "Impossible. No unregistered system has firewall capabilities above Protocol Rank Four."
Jason took a single step forward, the System light around him rotating like a celestial gear.
"I am the Rebirth Core. You speak of bloodlines—I speak of origins."
[System Evolution Path: Sovereign Tier Unlocked]
Suddenly, the code curtain rewrote itself. Instead of attacking Jason, it began revolving around him—worshipping his presence.
Cassia's jaw tightened. "He's… overriding the Nexus."
Qianyu's power dimmed. Theo fell to his knees. Ibrahim crossed his arms in silent thought. The Nakamuras flickered out of sight.
Jason looked around the room and, with a commanding tone, declared:
"I will not be tested by relics of collapsing dynasties. I will lead the rebirth of them all."
The room erupted into silence.
And then, the Council bowed.
Elsewhere: In the Depths of the Abandoned Nexus Vault
Unbeknownst to Jason, someone else was watching. A figure cloaked in shadow stood before a dormant system core deep beneath Zenith SkyTech Tower.
She was known only as the Oracle of Chains.
Tapping into a forbidden node, she murmured, "So the child has awakened the Rebirth Core... and disrupted the Primogenitor Rite. The Sovereign Path rises again."
Her fingers etched ancient symbols into the floor.
[Initializing: Null Reversal Protocol]
Behind her, a hundred chained souls began to stir.
Back at the SkyTech Tower
Jason sat alone in the observation deck after the meeting. The system window hovered beside him, displaying cascading updates.
[Current Influence: Tier IV – Rising]
[Assets Under Management: $7.6 Billion]
[Alliances Established: 4 (Lin, Vangarde, Al-Sayid, Nakamura – Tentative)]
[System Mutation Detected: Ancestral Protocol Interfacing]
Cassia approached silently, holding a glass of black sapphire wine.
"You disrupted their ritual," she said softly. "You shouldn't have been able to."
Jason looked at her, eyes unreadable. "I'm not like them. I wasn't born into this. I bled for it. I died once to gain this second chance."
Cassia frowned. "And what if they turn on you?"
Jason's eyes burned with determination. "Then I'll show them why systems fear the word 'Rebirth.'"
As they sat in silence, the city skyline shifted. Drones zipped past, carrying supplies for arcology farms. Vertical cities shimmered with neon-scripted ads advertising "Memory Upgrades" and "Genetic Rerolls." The future wasn't coming.
It was here.
And Jason intended to rewrite it.
System Notification
Congratulations! You have completed Chapter Milestone: Nexus Initiation
Rewards Unlocked:
– Bloodline Adaptation (Sovereign Tier)
– Access Granted to: Legacy Vault – Layer 1
– Alliance Trait: "Economic Synchronization Protocol" Activated
Side Quest Unlocked: "Oracle Hunt: Find the One Who Watches"