Liam already knew the location of the abandoned server café, so he didn't need directions from a map, and it wasn't that far off from where the company was—so it was practically walkable.
It was an abandoned café that was once one of the biggest the city had, but it got left to sink after the owner died in a car accident.
The workers couldn't run the café anymore, so they left it to fall to the bottom of the business chain.
Liam arrived in front of it but didn't see anyone yet, so he decided to step inside and wait for Jin.
After a while, he received a notification from the system.
[System Notification]
Congratulations! Milestone Achieved: Majority Stake Acquired
You have secured 51% control of NetVigil Inc. through a proxy entity.
Reward Unlocked:
— [Executive Override Protocol v1.0]
— +1 Strategic Authority Point
— [Asset Shield: Cloaked Holdings] Activated
You now hold undisputed influence over NetVigil's core operations. All board-level decisions require your approval.
Next threshold: 75% for Total Corporate Domination
He stared at the notification, confused.
"What? What does it mean I acquired 51% control over NetVigil? I haven't even done anything yet," he muttered to himself.
Who was this so-called proxy entity that the system refused to reveal, and why did it ask him to invest in the business if it could easily acquire the assets? His thoughts were flooded with questions—ones he knew the system was unable to answer.
In between his thoughts, another system message popped up on the screen of the phone.
[System Notice]
Silencer Bonus: Public Notice Delay
Media blackout effect.
Duration: 72 Hours
Your identity will remain untraceable during this period]
"Sometimes, some of these system notifications don't make sense," he whispered, before he heard footsteps clicking on the floor behind him.
He turned around and saw a figure in a black hoodie standing at the entrance.
"Hey, Liam—or should I say, Mr. Panda," the figure said with a distorted voice. It was obvious a voice modulator was being used to hide their real voice.
"So you're Jin?" he asked, briefly standing up.
"Yeah, Jin Moore. And you don't happen to be Liam Maddox, are you?" she questioned.
"Well, you caught me. Is it that obvious though?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.
"Not really. I mean, everyone thinks you're dead—but I believe in ghosts, you know," she said, chuckling.
"Yeah, right," he said, sitting back down on a chair opposite her.
After a while, she walked up to the table and sat.
"So why do you want to invest in NetVigil of all places?"
"Like I always say first—I love bringing back vintage businesses, and yours just happened to pique my interest," he answered.
"I'm not the owner though, so I'm not the one you should meet for the signing and stuff," she answered, her hoodie still on.
"You realize I know you're a girl, right? So you don't have to hide that fact," he muttered, leaning closer on the table.
She opened her mouth in surprise but didn't mutter any words.
"I see you have good perception," she chuckled.
"I wouldn't call it perception if it's obvious," he said, staring down at her chest and then back up to her face.
"I see what you're at," she said, pulling off the hoodie and the voice modulator.
"So what have you been doing back at the building when it hasn't been in business for over a month?" he asked, quite curious about it.
He wasn't expecting anyone to still work at the place, but some people have weird hobbies—so he was curious to know what she was looking for in there.
"I'm not the one who said it, but I think someone faked everything—like someone is trying to hide something they don't want to be found," she responded, leaning closer to the table.
"And what makes you so sure about it?" Liam asked, his interest now fully piqued.
"I don't know, just the way the business went down doesn't sound normal, and they didn't even let us stay for another day. We were paid and sent off that very day, which doesn't add up to anything," she continued, her voice lowered as if someone was eavesdropping nearby.
"And you're sure of this claim you make?" Liam asked maturely.
"Well, not fully—just like sixty percent sure," she smiled a bit, and Liam over-stared at it.
He shook his head and snapped out of it.
"Alright, I'll help you dig into it. I'll even help you with the funds necessary, but you'll help me out personally if needed," he said, pushing his hand forward for a handshake.
Jin stared at the hand for a long while, contemplating his deal.
"Fine. But I want to work alone like I've been doing for the past month. No surveillance, no authority barking orders at me, and especially, no unchecked relationship between us."
Liam glanced at her for a while, then smiled at her behavior and character. She wasn't one to easily trust anyone, and that was the type of person suitable for the revenge arc he was about to go into.
"Alright, fine. None of those will hinder your progress, but now you have no excuse for not finishing any projects on time," he muttered, smirking a bit more than he intended.
She let her hand out from her pockets and shook his.
"Then the deal's settled. I'll begin researching why the firm fell to the very bottom and I hope you'll provide me with enough resources to carry this out."
"Deal," Liam said, standing up briefly and walking out the door.
"It was nice meeting you, Jin. We'll make a pretty good team," he winked before stepping out of the café.
◆Jin's POV.◆
Jin sat there for thirty minutes before she stood up and followed him out, though she was heading back to the facility.
Before Liam arrived, she was already researching the reason why the firm dipped, but now she had resources and backup in case things didn't go the way she intended and that made her more confident about the research.
She climbed up the stairs of the facility. The doors and windows were all dusty and hadn't been cleaned for more than a month, but it was understandable.
While she was snooping around, she noticed a crack in one of the office walls and she looked inside the crack out of play more than curiosity.
Inside the crack, she noticed it was another room—like a private office no one knew about.
She glanced back at the office room for any source that seemed like a key or door, but she didn't have time to start ransacking everything, so she brought a hammer from the tool store for the reconstruction team and broke open the wall.
Luckily for her, no one was going to start working anytime soon until they finalized everything, so that gave her time to check out the things she wanted to check.
She stepped into the secret room, coughing as she turned on the switch for the light bulbs, which surprisingly still worked. "I didn't know this place existed," she whispered.
She glanced around the room and noticed a laptop sitting on a desk opposite where she stood.
She walked up to it and cleaned the chair before sitting on it, then switching on the laptop.
At first, it didn't go on, but after the good old hit on the bottom, it triggered to life once again.
The sound wasn't pleasant, but it was manageable. "Now let's see what you guys really did with this company," she said, logging in.
She noticed it belonged to one of the firm holders from years ago, and hacking into things was just something she was good at, so it didn't take her much time before she cracked the pin.
She went through the files on the laptop, and most of them seemed normal, so she decided to pull a move she knew would work.
She typed a specific code and secret files popped up on the screen and what she saw in them left her speechless.