Free Web NovelChapter 119: [119] The Whistleblower, Auditing the Books
The journey back to the Margin was a logistical nightmare.
Arthur Sterling did not have a fleet of passenger transports. He had three hover bikes and a hijacked, mile-long armored locomotive sitting dead on the tracks in the middle of a toxic wasteland.
But he was a CEO. He solved problems.
"System," Arthur commanded as he stood on the desert floor. "Can we reroute the Iron Convoy’s navigation array? Link it to the transit rails running through Sector 4."
[Ding!]
[Analyzing locomotive mainframe.]
[Affirmative. Host possesses Administrator control. Rerouting coordinates to the Margin central station. Warning: Engine requires manual reboot.]
Arthur didn’t hesitate. He sent Vane and Cassia back into the engine room to physically jump-start the massive plasma thrusters. It took twenty minutes of sparking wires and heavy lifting, but the colossal centipede of a train finally roared back to life.
They loaded the four hundred starving mortals into the emptied cargo cars. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was a ride.
Two hours later, the heavy iron doors of the Margin’s central transit station hissed open.
The citizens of the newly liberated city stopped what they were doing. Thousands of people who had been clearing rubble and sweeping up the grey ash of dead Auditors stared in absolute silence as the massive Iron Convoy rolled into the station.
They expected an invasion. They got a refugee drop-off.
Arthur stepped off the front of the engine car. He didn’t wait for a welcoming committee. He immediately started barking orders.
"Cassia, get these people out of the cars! Vane, coordinate with the local guards. I want them processed, cleaned, and cataloged by nightfall."
Vane jumped down from the train, his heavy boots cracking against the concrete. "Processed? Arthur, they are half-dead! They need doctors, not clipboards!"
"They need both," Arthur snapped, walking briskly past him. "A sick worker is an inefficient worker. Set up a triage center in the western block. Use the Merit Points we collected from the street thugs to buy high-tier healing salves from the local clinics."
Cassia vaulted down from the roof of the train. She landed smoothly beside them.
"And housing, Boss? We don’t have four hundred empty beds lying around."
"We own the city, Cassia. Requisition the abandoned pirate barracks on 4th Street. Evict any squatters. That is their new housing block."
Arthur stopped and turned to face the crowd of terrified, shivering mortals stepping out of the train cars. They looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. They didn’t know if they had been rescued or just traded to a new slaver.
Arthur didn’t give them a warm, comforting smile. He gave them a corporate pitch.
"Listen up," Arthur’s baritone voice boomed across the station, echoing off the high metal ceilings. "My name is Arthur Sterling. You are currently standing in the Margin, a registered subsidiary of Omniversal Holdings."
The crowd flinched, shrinking back.
"You are no longer slaves," Arthur continued coldly. "You are employees. You will be provided with three hot meals a day, clean water, and secure housing. In exchange, you will work. You will clear the rubble in this city. You will rebuild the defensive arrays. You will follow my orders."
He paused, letting his dark eyes sweep over the crowd.
"If you work hard, you get paid. If you try to steal from me, I will personally throw you back into the void. Welcome to the company."
He didn’t wait for cheers. He didn’t wait for applause. Arthur turned on his heel and walked out of the station. He had an empire to run.
An hour later, Arthur was sitting behind the heavy mahogany desk in the Mayor’s office at the top of the central administrative building.
The room was quiet. The distant sounds of construction and bustling crowds drifted up through the shattered glass window.
Arthur rubbed his temples, staring at the glowing blue interface hovering in his vision.
[Omniversal Holdings Ledger]
[Current Assets: Sector 4 ’The Margin’, 400 Unskilled Laborers.]
[Current Debt Balance: 999,999,999,940 Merit Points.]
He let out a slow, exhausted sigh. It wasn’t enough. Not even close.
He had successfully hijacked the Iron Convoy, but the cargo had been entirely human capital. Silas Vance had already shipped the refined Merit Energy to the inner vaults. The Margin was safe for now, but without a massive influx of liquid cash, the Omniversal Audit would eventually catch up to him.
He needed to hit Silas Vance directly. He needed to break into the Sector 5 central vault.
"KNOCK. KNOCK."
Arthur looked up. The heavy wooden doors to the office slowly creaked open.
Standing in the doorway was a frail, nervous-looking human man. He was wearing an oversized, faded grey suit that hung loosely on his thin frame. His hair was thinning, and his hands were trembling violently.
But what caught Arthur’s attention was the man’s right eye. It was entirely replaced by a glowing, cybernetic implant that whirred and clicked as it rapidly scanned the room.
It was one of the mortals they had pulled off the train.
"E-excuse me, sir," the man stammered, his voice barely a whisper. He looked like he was about to bolt at the slightest sudden movement.
Arthur leaned back in his leather chair. He didn’t draw a weapon. He just stared at the man with cold, calculating precision. freёwebnoѵel.com
"You’re supposed to be in triage," Arthur said flatly. "Why are you in my office?"
"I... I told the large man with the sword that I needed to speak to the CEO," the frail man said, taking a hesitant step inside. "He said you were up here."
"Vane has a terrible habit of letting people bypass reception," Arthur grumbled. "Make it quick. I am busy."
The man swallowed hard. His cybernetic eye whirred loudly.
"I heard your speech at the station," the man said. "You said we work for you now. You said if we provide value, we get paid."
"That is the company policy," Arthur nodded slowly.
"I am not an unskilled laborer, Mr. Sterling," the man said, standing up a little straighter. The trembling in his hands slightly lessened. "My name is Elias. I used to work in Sector 5. I... I know things."
Arthur’s pitch-black eyes narrowed.
[Ding!]
[System Scan Initiated.]
[Target: Elias. Class: Corporate Accountant.]
[Notice: High-Value Intelligence Asset Detected.]
Arthur’s posture instantly changed. The tired, exhausted man vanished. The ultimate corporate liquidator snapped back to the surface.
"What kind of things, Elias?" Arthur asked, his voice dropping into a smooth, predatory purr.
"I used to be Silas Vance’s lead accountant," Elias confessed, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper. "I managed the books for the Iron Consortium. I saw where the money moved. I saw the vault transfers."
Arthur didn’t blink. He just stared at the golden goose that had just waddled into his office.
"Why were you on a slave train?" Arthur asked.
"Because he caught me skimming," Elias smiled bitterly. "I took a fraction of a percent off the top of a major transfer. Just enough to try and buy my family’s way out of the slums. Silas didn’t kill me. He thought the mines would be a better punishment."
