The news of the Pacific Power Grid (PPG) takeover hit the Dimaculangan Clan like a financial explosion. They hadn't just lost an asset; they had lost face, having been systematically outmaneuvered by an unknown entity named "Aiden Monteverde."
The Clan was an old-school oligarchy. They didn't rely on clean mergers and acquisitions; they relied on force, politics, and media control.
Phase 1: The Political and Regulatory Squeeze ⚖️
The Dimaculangan's initial response was a coordinated, multi-front attack, leveraging their control over key agencies.
1. Regulatory Hostility:
Their allies in the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) immediately launched an "emergency audit" of PPG. The goal was to find any minor infraction—a faulty meter, a forgotten form—and use it as pretext to revoke PPG's distribution license or levy crippling fines.
Aiden assigned Atty. Clara Villanueva ("The Needle") to handle the ERC. Clara, driven by her personal vendetta against political abuse of power, didn't just defend; she went on the offensive. She buried the ERC auditors in mountains of perfectly formatted, legally pristine documentation, all generated instantly by the System's Document Generation function. She highlighted the previous CEO's, Delfin Sy's, negligence (pre-acquisition) and contrasted it with the immediate, massive, documented ₱350 Million upgrade spending.
Aiden then initiated a small, strategic expenditure: paying a highly rated, legitimate, and neutral international auditing firm ₱10,000,000 to issue an immediate, favorable, and highly public safety compliance report on the new PPG infrastructure.
[Transaction Log: Spending Event]
[Amount Spent: ₱10,000,000 (International Audit Fee)]
[Purpose: Legal Defense & Public Relations]
[REIMBURSEMENT EXECUTED: +₱20,000,000]
Aiden turned the cost of proving his innocence into capital. The Dimaculangan's legal attack stalled, buried under international legitimacy and legal brilliance.
2. The Media Smear:
A subsidiary of the Dimaculangan media empire launched a massive smear campaign. Headlines screamed: "Mysterious Foreign-Backed Group Steals Filipino Power Grid!" and "Teenage Front Man for Criminal Syndicate Behind PPG Takeover!" The goal was to paint Aiden as a foreign puppet or a criminal to trigger nationalist public outrage and regulatory panic.
Aiden did not counter the press directly. He ordered Dr. Elias Reyes ("The Ethicist"), now COO of PPG, to do two things:
Public Service Announcement: Announce an immediate 10% rate reduction for the residential customers in PPG's service area, funded by the new efficiency and subsidized by the System's capital doubling.
Charity Expenditure: Announce a ₱25,000,000 expenditure to electrify three impoverished, off-grid barangays (villages) that the previous owners had ignored for decades.
[Transaction Log: Spending Event]
[Amount Spent: ₱25,000,000 (Barangay Electrification)]
[Purpose: Social Capital & Public Relations]
[REIMBURSEMENT EXECUTED: +₱50,000,000]
The System turned charity into doubled cash flow. The narrative flipped instantly. While the media screamed, the people received lower bills and light. The Dimaculangan media attack lost all credibility in the affected regions.
Phase 2: The Physical Assault 🔪
Frustrated by the legal and media blockade, the Dimaculangan Clan resorted to their most familiar tactic: Sabotage and Intimidation.
They ordered their hired security elements to hit the newly upgraded PPG substations, aiming to cause power outages, disrupt the industrial zone, and terrorize the employees.
1. Intelligence and Defense:
Capt. Miguel "Sentinel" Dela Cerna and Silencer Cruz were ready. Sentinel used his intelligence background to identify the most likely targets. Silencer used his network and hacking skills to monitor the Dimaculangan security companies' communications.
2. The Ambush:
The first attack targeted the primary substation feeding the industrial park. Around midnight, a team of armed, masked men arrived in unmarked vans.
They were met not by terrified, minimum-wage guards, but by Boss Ramos and Sentinel's heavily armed, registered, and disciplined ASL team.
ASL did not fire first. They had the element of surprise and superior tactical positioning. Sentinel had planned a non-lethal, high-impact counter.
They used high-intensity non-lethal deterrents (flashbangs, rubber rounds) to neutralize the attackers, securing them instantly. The entire engagement lasted less than 90 seconds.
3. The Cleanup:
The captured intruders were not handed over to the compromised police. Instead, Silencer Cruz extracted their digital communication logs proving they were hired by a Dimaculangan shell company.
Atty. Clara Villanueva then contacted the Clan's top legal counsel at 3:00 AM, presenting the full dossier of the captured men, the evidence of corporate espionage and attempted sabotage, and the immediate filing of criminal and massive civil charges against the Dimaculangan-linked security firm.
The message was clear: If you use force, we will use overwhelming, documented, legal counterforce.
The Dimaculangan Clan was forced to pull back, their assets exposed, their tactics failing, and the mysterious new competitor now owning a profitable, fortified, and legally impeccable power company.
Aiden sat in his secure office, watching the reports come in. The System blinked its quiet confirmation of the successful defensive maneuver.
The first battle of the Archipelago Empire had been won.