TCRI Headquarters, Top-Level High-Security Conference Room.
The air was so heavy it felt condensed into a block of lead. Around the giant circular conference table, the few remaining core executives were deathly pale.
The screens displayed harrowing, immediate footage:
Aerial shots of the Pennsylvania factory ruins—though the flames were extinguished, the charred, twisted steel structures, collapsed buildings, and scattered remains of precision instruments formed a hellish landscape. Rescue and investigative personnel crawled over the rubble like ants, their efforts seemingly futile.
Devastating images of the Houston factory, the "Precision Crucible," which looked as though it had been ravaged by an invisible behemoth. The core area was "scooped out," leaving only a smoldering, deep crater bordered by metal that had melted and then solidified.
Finally, the TCRI stock chart—the curve of its cliff-like plunge was a sharp scythe that had sliced the company's market value in half.
"BANG!" A crystal ashtray was violently hurled against the ballistic glass wall, shattering instantly.
Shredder stood before the main seat, his back to the others, his shoulders trembling slightly from the barely suppressed rage. He was no longer the calculated, sinister, and ruthless controller he once was; now he resembled a cornered beast, baring its fangs on the edge of a cliff.
"Useless! A pack of absolute, utter failures!" Shredder's voice was low and hoarse, laced with icy killing intent. "Two top-tier labs wiped out like they were a backyard shed! We couldn't catch a shadow! And now what? Our public cash cow, our entire façade, was crushed like an ant late at night! The vultures on Wall Street are tearing us to pieces! You tell me, who is the enemy?!"
The conference room fell silent. Only the low hum of the equipment and heavy breathing broke the stillness. No one dared to look at Shredder's back, and no one could answer his question. The Head of Security had his head practically buried beneath the table; the network defense chief was white as a sheet.
"Internal investigation?" Shredder spun around suddenly, his hawk-like gaze sweeping over the group. "What did you find? System malfunction? Operator error? Some disgruntled former employee? Do you think everyone else is an idiot?! The videos and photos of the scene are everywhere! This is a declaration of goddamn war!"
Shredder's roar echoed through the cold, empty room, but it couldn't change the fact that TCRI was about to change hands.
In this moment of suffocating tension—
"BANG!"
The heavy, ballistic conference room door was violently kicked open by an immense force. The lock alarm shrieked, then was instantly silenced.
Hawk strolled in as if taking a pleasant walk, followed by the expressionless, knife-eyed Goo Ja-yoon and several other core executives from Lane Capital, including Emilia.
Several panicking TCRI security personnel attempted to intervene, only to be frozen in place, unable to move, by Goo Ja-yoon's icy glare and the slight lift of her fingertip.
Hawk ignored the room's solidified atmosphere and Shredder's practically incandescent glare. He walked straight to the circular conference table and tapped the smooth surface with his finger, the sound echoing crisply.
"Gentlemen, ladies," he spoke as if announcing teatime, "I apologize for interrupting your... wake? However, I believe I have a duty to inform you that, as the screen shows, Lane Capital is now the absolute majority controlling shareholder of TCRI. Which is to say, this place," he swept his gaze around, finally landing on Shredder in the main chair, "now belongs to me."
The conference room was utterly silent; even breathing was barely audible. Shredder stared intensely at Hawk, his eyes churning with unbelievable rage and the shame of being utterly humiliated.
Among the executives, two men seated to the right of Shredder instantly locked eyes with a vicious, wolf-like glare. They were not mere businessmen, but high-ranking enforcers privy to the Foot Clan's core secrets.
Just as Hawk reached the center of the table, less than ten feet from them, the two men exploded into action without warning! One snatched the heavy metal coffee pot from the table and swung it at Hawk's temple, while the other lightning-fast pulled a poisoned dagger from his suit pocket, lunging to stab Hawk in the back! Their movements were vicious, swift, and clearly those of highly trained fighters.
"Ah!" Emilia gasped, her heart leaping into her throat.
However, Hawk didn't even twitch an eyelid.
Goo Ja-yoon, standing slightly behind and to his side, moved. Her movements were too fast for the naked eye to track; she merely seemed to blur in place.
"CRACK! CRACK!"
Two teeth-grinding snaps, like dry twigs being crushed, erupted almost simultaneously. The two men, who had been lunging with murderous intent just a second before, instantly froze rigid. The viciousness in their eyes was instantly replaced by enormous shock and incomprehensible pain. Their necks twisted at a completely unnatural angle, their heads drooping lifelessly. Their bodies fell to the carpet like boneless sacks, "THUD," "THUD," silenced forever.
The entire conference room went completely quiet, as if a mute button had been pressed. Time seemed to freeze.
All the surviving TCRI executives, including Shredder, stared, their pupils constricted as if they had seen a ghost.
Emilia clamped a hand over her mouth, her face pale, her stomach churning. The sheer, efficient slaughter instantly shattered her earlier excitement and joy. This was the first time she had so viscerally experienced the terrifying power of Hawk's "assistant."
Hawk didn't even glance at the bodies on the floor, treating them like two specks of dust he'd brushed away. He clapped his hands and offered the terrified executives a professional smile: "Alright, does anyone else have any questions about the share transfer and management handover? Or perhaps you'd like to test the new boss's authority?"
The remaining men were petrified, frantically shaking their heads, barely daring to breathe.
"Excellent," Hawk snapped his fingers. "Emilia, please escort the gentlemen to the next room and begin the pleasant handover process."
Emilia took a deep breath, trying hard to steady herself, and signaled to the Lane Capital reception team she had brought. The remaining, fear-stricken TCRI executives stiffly rose, and were "politely" escorted out of the conference room, which had become a literal slaughterhouse.
The heavy door slowly closed, shutting off the outside world.
Now, only Hawk, Goo Ja-yoon, and Shredder, isolated like a castaway on the main seat, remained in the room...
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