The two choices hung in Leo's vision, shimmering with a strange, unstable silver light. They were not quests. They were definitions. Resign with Honor or Rule by Fear. For the first time, the System was not asking him what he wanted to do, but who he wanted to be.
He stood in the silent, cavernous space of his penthouse, the city a galaxy of cold, distant lights below. Calm Mind (MAX) was a perfect, placid lake, yet for the first time, he felt the stirrings of a storm beneath its surface.
Honor. The word was a foreign concept, an inefficient variable he had long since discarded. Honor was what got you fired. Honor was what made Elias Vance a broken man. Honor was a luxury for those who had never had to fight for their survival. To choose that path would mean war with the Shadow Board, a chaotic, unpredictable crusade that would likely end in his own destruction. It was the path of a martyr. And Leo had no interest in being a martyr.
Fear. He understood fear. Fear was a tool. Fear created order. Fear was the foundation of the respect his own team now gave him. Fear, unlike loyalty or honor, was a predictable, quantifiable, and efficient motivator. The Shadow Board ruled by fear, and they were the kings of this world. To fight them with honor was to bring a knife to a gunfight.
The System had glitched, had shown him a crack in its own logic. It had presented him with a moral choice, but to Leo, it was no choice at all. It was a final, simple optimization problem.
He had not climbed this high to tear the system down. He had climbed this high to take it over.
His finger moved, pressing the shimmering silver text.
[Path B: Rule by Fear. Selected.]
The moment he made the choice, the silver light in his vision did not fade. It intensified, exploding into a torrent of raw data that poured directly into his consciousness. The System was not just acknowledging his choice; it was rewarding it. It was upgrading him for the path he had chosen.
[Moral Alignment Locked: Lawful Evil] [Your unambiguous embrace of power has unlocked a new tier of executive-level skills.]
[New Skill Acquired: Corporate Throne (Lv. 1)] [Description: This is a passive aura of absolute authority. Your presence now commands not just respect, but fealty. Your directives are perceived as inevitable. Subordinates are less likely to question orders, and rivals are more likely to submit to your will without a direct confrontation. Fear is the ultimate efficiency.]
[New Item Acquired: The Chairman's Chronometer] [Description: A watch forged from titanium and sapphire, its internal mechanism is a masterpiece of temporal engineering. Once per day, you may activate it to rewind your personal timeline by exactly five minutes. You retain all knowledge of the future you erased. It is the power to undo a single, critical mistake.]
The Luxury Watch he had earned in Season 1 vanished from his wrist, replaced by the cool, heavy weight of the Chronometer. He felt the Corporate Throne skill settle over him, a metaphysical weight that made the very air in the room feel denser, more subject to his will. He was no longer just a player. He was becoming a force of nature.
And a force of nature does not take orders.
He sat at his desk, the city lights his only companion. The Shadow Board thought he was their Hand, their monster on a leash. They had made a critical error. They had given their weapon a mind of its own. It was time to renegotiate the terms of his employment.
He opened an encrypted channel, not to one member, but to the entire Shadow Board simultaneously. He began to type a single, elegant, and devastating message. He attached a single, small file—a heavily encrypted data packet containing a perfect, unredacted record of the entire Aetherion sabotage operation, complete with the Shadow Board's initial order.
To: The Shadow Board
From: L. Zhang
Subject: Our New Arrangement
Gentlemen,
The attached file is an insurance policy. My service as your 'Hand' is now complete. From this moment forward, I am no longer your subordinate. I am your partner.
I will not expose you. Exposing you would be inefficient and chaotic. Instead, I will be taking the open seat for Vice President of the Strategic Division, effective immediately. You will make this happen. You will announce it as a reward for my "exceptional performance."
In return for this, I will continue to be discreet. You will continue to hold your power. And we will all continue to profit.
This is not a negotiation. It is a statement of fact.
He read the message once, a cold, predatory smile touching his lips. Then, he hit send. The first act of his new reign had begun. He was no longer just climbing the ladder. He was hijacking it.