[The Abyssal Academy - The Principal's Office]
The Pantheon Group's stock had been trading on the astral market for exactly one week. Victor Thorne sat behind his massive mahogany desk, reviewing the staggering dividend payouts.
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors of the Principal's Office were violently blown off their hinges.
Marching into the room were three Astral Arbiters, the cosmic judges Victor had previously extorted in Chapter 56. They were no longer wearing their judicial robes. They were radiating pure, vengeful cosmic energy.
Princess Ignis instantly stepped in front of Victor, her demonic aura flaring as she drew her broadsword.
"Put the sword away, bodyguard," the center Arbiter sneered, its voice booming with arrogant triumph. "Physical violence against your superiors is grounds for immediate termination."
Victor didn't flinch. He casually took a sip of his black coffee. "My superiors?"
"We warned you that replacing gold with your digital tokens was a mistake," the Arbiter held up a glowing data-pad. "You forced the multiverse to use your currency. So, the Astral Revenue Service printed an infinite supply of our own localized cosmic funds and quietly purchased your stock on the open market."
The Arbiter slammed a heavy, holographic stock certificate onto Victor's desk.
"The Astral Tribunal now legally owns fifty-one percent of the Pantheon Group's outstanding shares!" the Arbiter roared, the cosmic FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) suffocating the room. "We hold the controlling interest! We are executing a hostile takeover. Victor Thorne, you are hereby fired as CEO of your own company!"
Elara, standing by the fireplace, gasped in horror. The Gods had used Victor's own public market against him.
"A hostile takeover," Victor said softly. He didn't look angry. He looked incredibly, profoundly bored.
"Security! Remove this mortal from our property!" the Arbiter commanded.
Victor reached out and placed his hand flat on the Tycoon's Ledger.
"You clearly didn't read the corporate bylaws embedded in the original IPO prospectus," Victor adjusted his midnight-blue cuffs. "Because I anticipated an aggressive multiversal buyout, I embedded a Shareholder Rights Plan. Colloquially known in the industry as a 'Poison Pill'."
Victor slashed his gold-nibbed pen across the Ledger.
"The moment a hostile entity acquires more than fifteen percent of Pantheon stock without board approval, the Poison Pill activates," Victor's cold, predatory smile returned. "Seraphina. Flood the market."
"Executing," Seraphina tapped her clipboard.
Instantly, the Tycoon's Ledger generated ten billion brand-new shares of Pantheon stock out of thin air.
"I am issuing a massive block of newly minted shares exclusively to my loyal, pre-existing shareholders at a ninety percent discount," Victor explained, watching the Arbiters' cosmic confidence shatter. "Your fifty-one percent stake has just been instantly diluted down to a pathetic three percent. You don't have controlling interest. You don't even have a seat on the board."
The Arbiters stared at their holographic certificate as its value mathematically vaporized.
"You just spent your entire cosmic treasury buying equity that I rendered legally worthless with a single signature," Victor stood up, his Tycoon's Aura pressing the Gods to their knees. "Ignis. Throw these minority shareholders out of my office."