Chapter 13: The Billion Dollar Shell Company
The chaos of the successful stream was replaced by the cold, silent efficiency of high finance. Carter had achieved his primary goal: **attention and seed capital**. Now, he had to make that money work.
*"The $325,000 generated from the initial live stream is negligible for a global Academy,"* **Earth** informed him, the System's voice focused and demanding. *"We pivot immediately to **Vector Alpha**: Anonymous High-Frequency Trading. This requires zero charisma, only information."*
Carter sat before his laptop—the same one he had magically reassembled—now running a suite of complex financial software only visible to him through the System overlay.
"High-Frequency Trading is essentially digital gambling, right?" Carter asked.
*"It is the ultimate application of predictive analysis,"* Earth corrected. *"Since I possess a real-time, comprehensive data stream of every global market event, news leak, and environmental factor that impacts stock prices, there is no 'gamble.' There is only **certainty**."*
Carter focused his mind, channeling his energy not into the computer, but into the System's data core. He was no longer just *reading* the internet; he was the processor.
Over the next twenty-four hours, Carter didn't sleep. He sat in the cheap motel room, his eyes—shielded by the shades—locked on the screen as the System executed billions of micro-transactions. Earth leveraged every financial loophole, every predictive flaw, turning cents into dollars and dollars into millions. The process was sickeningly fast.
**The result was exponential.**
By the time the sun set on the second day, Carter's anonymous offshore accounts held a rapidly growing mountain of wealth.
*"Initial goal attained,"* Earth stated, projecting the total in luminous green figures: **\$1.8 Billion USD**. *"Sufficient capital for foundational infrastructure. We cease trading immediately. Attention and suspicion must be avoided."*
Carter rubbed his face, feeling the fatigue but powered by the sheer, exhilarating proof of his own overwhelming ability. "Okay, we have the money. Where do we put the school?"
### The Strategic Location
The System instantly brought up a global map, overlaying it with the Mana Map from the previous night. The pulsing blue lines of new magic were the new priority.
*"The Academy requires three things: **Seclusion**, **Mana Concentration**, and **Expansion Potential**,"* Earth explained.
The map highlighted several remote areas: a vast, undeveloped swath of land in Siberia; an isolated archipelago in the Pacific; and finally, a massive, abandoned industrial complex outside a major but aging metropolitan city in the American Midwest.
*"I recommend the **Midwest Industrial Complex**,"* Earth said, locking the map onto the target. *"It is surrounded by dense, outdated infrastructure—perfect for masking our energy signatures. More crucially, geological analysis shows the remnants of a deep-Earth fault line run directly beneath it, acting as a natural **mana conduit**. The energy is already funneling there."*
"A magical power sink in the middle of a big city's backyard," Carter mused. "That's gutsy."
*"It is efficient. The property is currently held by a bankrupt holding company and can be purchased cheaply via an anonymous shell corporation,"* Earth confirmed. *"Now, we establish your cover. You cannot be a teenage stream star who suddenly purchases a billion-dollar property."*
### Creating the Czar
Carter watched as the System scrolled through images of well-known, legitimate global figures—CEOs, eccentric tech billionaires, and philanthropic founders.
*"We create an identity that leverages your digital fame but explains your capital,"* Earth instructed. *"You are now the anonymous founder and majority stakeholder of **Aetheric Solutions, LLC**, a cutting-edge, environmentally focused technology group dedicated to developing clean energy solutions based on... electromagnetic anomalies."*
"I'm using my magic as a cover story for my magic," Carter summarized, a genuine smile returning.
*"Precisely. The general public understands technology, not sorcery. Your visible power will be categorized as 'advanced bio-electrics' by our internal PR. Your name in the financial records will be the face of your holding company's primary director—a figurehead you control from the shadows."*
Carter stood up, feeling the weight of the new persona settle onto him. He was no longer just Carter, the lost mage. He was the secret force funding the next technological (and magical) revolution. He looked at the window, checking the sky. The Aurora was gone, but the Mana Map assured him the magic was still flowing.
"Let's move, Earth," Carter commanded. "Buy the shell company. Buy the land. It's time to build the new world."