Chapter 10: The Final Pieces
Blackhollow had changed.
Where once there were fields and forgotten trails, now stood workshops, trade hubs, and textile mills. Grain carts passed armored guards. Ink-stained accountants spoke in code.
And the map? It no longer mocked me.
It bent.
[System Notice: Industry Holdings – 6/7 Complete]
✅ Agriculture (Grain, Storage)
✅ Logistics (Trade Routes, Warehouses)
✅ Manufacturing (Forge, Toolsmithing)
✅ Textiles (Livestock, Mill)
✅ Alchemy (Lab constructed, Tier I unlocked)
✅ Finance (Lending Office, Smallholder Investment Bank)
⬜ Magic/Innovation (R&D still in progress)
I was one step from completing my industrial conglomerate.
But the final piece wasn't something to be built.
It had to be bought.
The Offer
That morning, a sealed envelope was delivered by an obsidian-uniform courier with no crest.
Inside:
"To the Steward of Blackhollow,
You've nearly completed the Circle. Few do. Fewer are invited to finish it.
We offer you the final industry. Enclosed is the price.
The company is Virelux Innovations. Arcane Research, Artifact Trade, Magical Contracts.
Your price is not gold.
It's war.
Signed,
—The Obsidian Circle"
I'd heard rumors—stories of a hidden conglomerate, a cartel of elite industrialists spanning every region, embedded inside the Union but never bound by it.
[New Mission Unlocked: "Buy the Crown"]
Target: Acquire +Virelux Innovations+ (Privately Held by Obsidian Circle)
Condition: Buyout via Merger or Strategic Collapse
Reward: Full Conglomerate Formation – Title: Merchant Lord of the Circle]
The Problem with Virelux
Assets:
4 Arcane Labs
1 Floating Research Vessel
Dozens of Mage-Engineered Contracts
Secret partnerships with noble houses, possibly even Drevan himself
Known Weaknesses:
Internal power struggle
Dependency on rare resources (aether salt, spellstone)
One disgraced founder in exile
Ray narrowed his eyes when I explained what we faced.
"You're not going to compete with them," he said. "You're going to dismantle them from the inside."
"Exactly."
The Plan: Collapse and Absorb
Cut the Resource Lines
– Using our control of trade routes, we begin discreetly halting shipments of aether salt and volatile stone heading to Virelux's labs.
Contact the Exiled Founder
– A system prompt revealed his name: Cael Verron, last seen in the Dustlands.
[New Side Mission: Locate and Recruit Cael Verron – Founder of Virelux]
Reward: R&D Blueprints, Insider Access to Obsidian Circle]
Forge the Public Deal
– Simultaneously, we make a public merger offer to Virelux. On paper, it's generous. Behind the scenes? Their internal panic will make them beg to be acquired once the collapse starts.
Prepare for Counter-Moves
– Because once the Obsidian Circle realizes what I'm doing…
[Warning: High-level economic warfare expected. Political retaliation likely. Assassination possible.]
Closing the Loop
I looked at the system menu:
[Conglomerate Progress: 6/7 Industries Acquired]
Final Goal: Own All Seven.
Bonus Objective: Absorb Rival Conglomerate (Obsidian Circle Tier – Optional)
Hidden Reward: ???
Status: Merchant Lord Path – Irreversible
Ray stepped into the room, hand on his sword.
"Are we really doing this?" he asked.
"We're not finishing a business," I said. "We're building the world that comes after nobles and taxes and lies."
He smirked. "Good. I hate waiting to start wars."
Chapter 10: The Final Pieces
Blackhollow had changed.
Where once there were fields and forgotten trails, now stood workshops, trade hubs, and textile mills. Grain carts passed armored guards. Ink-stained accountants spoke in code.
And the map? It no longer mocked me.
It bent.
[System Notice: Industry Holdings – 6/7 Complete]
✅ Agriculture (Grain, Storage)
✅ Logistics (Trade Routes, Warehouses)
✅ Manufacturing (Forge, Toolsmithing)
✅ Textiles (Livestock, Mill)
✅ Alchemy (Lab constructed, Tier I unlocked)
✅ Finance (Lending Office, Smallholder Investment Bank)
⬜ Magic/Innovation (R&D still in progress)
I was one step from completing my industrial conglomerate.
But the final piece wasn't something to be built.
It had to be bought.
The Offer
That morning, a sealed envelope was delivered by an obsidian-uniform courier with no crest.
Inside:
"To the Steward of Blackhollow,
You've nearly completed the Circle. Few do. Fewer are invited to finish it.
We offer you the final industry. Enclosed is the price.
The company is Virelux Innovations. Arcane Research, Artifact Trade, Magical Contracts.
Your price is not gold.
It's war.
Signed,
—The Obsidian Circle"
I'd heard rumors—stories of a hidden conglomerate, a cartel of elite industrialists spanning every region, embedded inside the Union but never bound by it.
[New Mission Unlocked: "Buy the Crown"]
Target: Acquire +Virelux Innovations+ (Privately Held by Obsidian Circle)
Condition: Buyout via Merger or Strategic Collapse
Reward: Full Conglomerate Formation – Title: Merchant Lord of the Circle]
The Problem with Virelux
Assets:
4 Arcane Labs
1 Floating Research Vessel
Dozens of Mage-Engineered Contracts
Secret partnerships with noble houses, possibly even Drevan himself
Known Weaknesses:
Internal power struggle
Dependency on rare resources (aether salt, spellstone)
One disgraced founder in exile
Ray narrowed his eyes when I explained what we faced.
"You're not going to compete with them," he said. "You're going to dismantle them from the inside."
"Exactly."
The Plan: Collapse and Absorb
Cut the Resource Lines
– Using our control of trade routes, we begin discreetly halting shipments of aether salt and volatile stone heading to Virelux's labs.
Contact the Exiled Founder
– A system prompt revealed his name: Cael Verron, last seen in the Dustlands.
[New Side Mission: Locate and Recruit Cael Verron – Founder of Virelux]
Reward: R&D Blueprints, Insider Access to Obsidian Circle]
Forge the Public Deal
– Simultaneously, we make a public merger offer to Virelux. On paper, it's generous. Behind the scenes? Their internal panic will make them beg to be acquired once the collapse starts.
Prepare for Counter-Moves
– Because once the Obsidian Circle realizes what I'm doing…
[Warning: High-level economic warfare expected. Political retaliation likely. Assassination possible.]
Closing the Loop
I looked at the system menu:
[Conglomerate Progress: 6/7 Industries Acquired]
Final Goal: Own All Seven.
Bonus Objective: Absorb Rival Conglomerate (Obsidian Circle Tier – Optional)
Hidden Reward: ???
Status: Merchant Lord Path – Irreversible
Ray stepped into the room, hand on his sword.
"Are we really doing this?" he asked.
"We're not finishing a business," I said. "We're building the world that comes after nobles and taxes and lies."
He smirked. "Good. I hate waiting to start wars."