Chapter 18: Diamond Box

"You really don’t know when to fold, Damian," Jude said.

He turned his attention away from the heir and addressed the crowd of executives. "Cross Capital just offered you a collective two hundred and fifty million dollars. Between that and their previous yearly investments, their total market influence hovers around seven hundred and fifty million."

"I find this back-and-forth incredibly tedious," Jude announced. "So, let’s end the game. I am currently holding two hundred million in finalized contracts. I am now opening a secondary capital pool. I will be investing an additional six hundred million dollars into your foreign trade assets before I leave this room."

The executives felt the air leave their lungs.

Six hundred million? On top of the two hundred million he had already spent?

That was an eight-hundred-million-dollar morning...

"Victoria," Jude said, not breaking eye contact with the crowd. "Prepare the wire transfers."

"Yes, Mr. Lawson," Victoria replied, her fingers flying across her laptop keyboard.

Even as a senior partner who handled massive mergers, her heart was hammering against her ribs.

The brief hesitation the executives felt vanished in an instant. The atrium erupted into chaos.

"Mr. Lawson! Please! Look at our European supply chain!"

"Sir, my biotech firm needs a hundred million! We can guarantee a fifty percent return!"

"Take my equity! Take sixty percent, I don’t care, just fund the offshore rigs!"

The crowd of CEOs and presidents surged forward, abandoning all professional decorum.

Damian Cross was caught in the stampede.

A logistics magnate practically shoulder-checked him out of the way to get closer to Jude’s table.

Damian stumbled backward, his designer shoes skidding on the floor, and crashed hard into a decorative tree.

He scrambled to his feet. "Wait! Cross Capital will blacklist you! We’ll freeze your domestic assets!"

"Shut up, Damian!" an older CEO snapped, not even looking back at him. "Mr. Lawson is speaking!"

Damian’s jaw dropped. He had just been told to shut up by a man who had spent the last five years begging his father for funding. It was over... The Cross family monopoly was broken.

Jude ignored the scrambling and activated his *Absolute Appraisal*.

[European Automotive Export. Projected ROI: -12%. Hidden Flaw: Imminent labor strike.]

He ignored the man screaming for fifty million.

[Deep-Sea Telecom Cable Expansion. Projected ROI: +180%. Highly lucrative.]

"You," Jude pointed to a tall woman in a grey suit. "I’m taking a fifty-one percent controlling stake in your telecom expansion for two hundred million."

The woman gasped, tears literally springing to her eyes. "Yes! Yes, absolutely, sir!"

[South American Rare Earth Mining. Projected ROI: +210%. Generational Wealth Asset.]

"The mining operation," Jude pointed to an older gentleman near the back. "Three hundred million for a forty percent share."

The man nearly collapsed from relief, furiously nodding his head.

Jude quickly identified a third company and dropped the remaining one hundred million on them.

"That’s six hundred million," Jude said smoothly. "Victoria, execute the contracts."

"Drafting the equity transfers now, sir," Victoria said, her voice shaking slightly. She hit the final keystroke. "The funds are clearing the international registry. It is done."

Jude had successfully spent eight hundred million dollars in cash.

And thanks to his appraisal skill, the returns over the next few years were going to yield him billions.

He turned his gaze back to Damian Cross, who was still standing near the plant.

"I believe we are finished here, Damian," Jude said. "You can take your two hundred and fifty million back to your father. Tell him the foreign trade sector is under new management."

Damian opened his mouth to speak, to threaten, to salvage some shred of his dignity, but no words came out.

He turned on his heel and sprinted out of the atrium, followed closely by his bewildered security team.

The moment the doors swung shut behind Damian, a chime rang out clearly in Jude’s mind.

[Escalation Mission Completed: Crush the Opposition!]

[Cross Capital’s market dominance has been successfully usurped.]

[Reward: +2 Money Sign-Ins, +1 Diamond System Reward Box!]

Jude’s smile widened into a grin.

"Sign in," Jude commanded.

[Bonus Sign-In 1 Successful! Reward: $40,000,000 USD.]

[Bonus Sign-In 2 Successful! Reward: $60,000,000 USD.]

With the capital officially distributed, the executives who hadn’t received funding realized that the window had closed.

But instead of leaving, they became even more desperate to secure Jude’s favor for the future.

"Mr. Lawson!" a shipping CEO pleaded, shoving a gold-embossed business card across the table. "Please, allow me to host you on my yacht in Monaco next month! All expenses paid!"

"Jude, my private golf club in the Hamptons is entirely at your disposal!" another executive shouted. "I’ll waive the million-dollar entry fee today!"

"Mr. Lawson, my daughter is a runway model in Milan! You simply must let me introduce you two over dinner!"

Now, with his *Flawless Charisma* grounding him, he found the display pathetic.

They were just chasing the money... They didn’t care about him.

Jude stood up, buttoning his jacket. "Victoria, collect their contact information. If I require their services in the future, my office will reach out."

"Of course, Mr. Lawson," Victoria said, stepping between Jude and the crowd. "Gentlemen, please form a line. Mr. Lawson’s schedule is incredibly restricted."

Jude walked straight through the parting crowd, the executives bowing their heads as he passed, and exited the Grand Atrium.

He took the private elevator down to the underground VIP garage, where his driver was already waiting beside the black Maybach.

The driver opened the rear door. "Where to, Mr. Lawson? Back to Zenith Motors?"

"No," Jude said, sliding into the cabin. "Just drive. Take the scenic route out toward the coastline. I need some quiet."

"Right away, sir."

The Maybach rolled out of the garage, blending into the mid-morning city traffic.

The tinted windows insulated Jude from the outside world.

Jude leaned back against the plush headrest and let out a long breath.

He had just humiliated a legacy billionaire, spent eight hundred million dollars, and secured a stranglehold on the city’s foreign trade sector, all before lunch.

But as exhilarating as the corporate warfare had been, Jude was far more interested in the notification glowing in the corner of his vision.

The Platinum Box had given him four hundred and fifty million dollars in a massive multiplier explosion, along with an entire media conglomerate.

He now possessed a Diamond Box.

"System," Jude thought. "Open the Diamond System Reward Box."